“We are finally at a point where we have a plan and a trajectory for the renovation of Miami Marine Stadium,” City Manager Art Noriega said in a video posted on social media late last week.
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published by WLRN Public Media on August 29, and then updated after a change in date for the city’s special commission meeting. The Spotlight is re-publishing this story under a partnership agreement with WLRN.
Miami Marine Stadium was on the cover of GQ magazine this month, showing football star and Taylor Swift fiancé Travis Kelce soaring over the water in a jet pack. In the background of the shoot, the graffiti from decades of abandonment loom large.
But Marine Stadium might not be abandoned for much longer.
The City of Miami has called a special commission meeting on Friday at 10 a.m. to address the future of the waterside venue that has been abandoned and unused by the city since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
The commission will consider putting an item on this November’s ballot asking residents whether to approve a contract for the private company Global Spectrum L.P to manage and operate the facility.
Details of the proposed contract have not been released by the city yet.
“As always the devil is in the details,” said Chris Rupp, the executive director of Dade Heritage Trust, a group that has fought to restore the stadium for decades.
“There has to be money coming from somewhere not just to operate that stadium but also to restore it. Where is the money for restoration? It’s not like it’s ready to step into and plan events.”
The stadium’s storied history has included performances by Jimmy Buffet, Sammy Davis Jr. and political rallies by Richard Nixon, as well as a Catholic mass that was celebrated there every Sunday by recently arrived Cuban refugees.
“The community felt right away that it was open, it was accessible. It was to celebrate the point where the water and the land come together,” Cuban-born architect Hilario Candela told WLRN in 2013.
Candela longed to see the stadium return to its former glory, but died in 2022.
In recent years the parking lot in front of the stadium has been reactivated for music festivals and theater performances, raising hopes that the space could see a true reformation.
“It makes sense to bring this venue back to life,” said Rupp.
If commissioners approve the item, City of Miami voters would have to approve the contract on Nov. 4.
The future of the Marine Stadium must be tied to the use of the Basin. The Stadium is a viewing platform, not only for musical events to be held there, performed on a platform barge as used to happen, but also to view rowing events (and practices), dragon boat races, swimming and triathlon competitions, all of which use the Basin. To renovate the Stadium for entertainment purposes only would be a huge mistake. The Basin can’t be just a parking lot for sailboats and a playpen for jet skis.
Finally! A National, established Company, doing business with the Universty of Miami and other, out of State establishments.