Miami commissioners are dusting off the Marine Stadium dream again.
Yes, the same stadium that’s been rotting since 1992’s Hurricane Andrew. The same Brutalist concrete beauty on Biscayne Bay’s Virginia Key, whose neglect preservationists have been crying about for decades and has been listed as a historic since 2018 . The same architectural treasure that the National Trust for Historic Preservation has listed it in the 11 most endangered historic places.
The same project mayors keep calling a “legacy.”
The commission will have a special meeting Friday to decide whether to put a ballot question on the November election asking Miami voters if they’re ready to hand the keys to the shuttered landmark and the Flex Park next door over to a private entity — that will only charge the city $500,000 a year.
City Manager Art Noriega is already polishing the PR.
“We’re finally at a point where we have a plan and a trajectory for the renovation of Miami Marine Stadium, that incredible historic venue, a gem in the city of Miami…. lost to all of us for such a long time,” City Manager Art Noriega says in a hype video he dropped on Instagram last week. “This will reactivate that stadium. This is something we’re all going to be proud of in the next few years.”
If Ladra had a nickel for every time we’ve heard that, she could pay the higher tolls proposed for the Rickenbacker Causeway — which, by the way, might soon look more like U.S. 1 on event days.
Read related: Third DCA says no, again; Miami loses third try to cancel November elections
Noriega was short on details, however. All we know is that after decades of false starts, broken promises and glossy renderings gathering dust, the city issued another public solicitation for a private operator to restore and run the architectural and waterfront landmark. Apparently, they selected Global Spectrum L.P., a venue management company that is rebranding itself as Spectra. It has managed public events in the United States, Canada and the Middle East.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who has made it clear that the Miami Marine Stadium revival is on his last term bucket list, has had extensive business and political dealings with countries and organizations in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Dubai — connections that have drawn scrutiny regarding potential conflicts of interest with his role as mayor and as an attorney for an international law firm.
Suarez has pitched the Marine Stadium revival as a legacy project. But this is the same guy who has spent years jet-setting, crypto-pitching, hobnobbing with celebrities, creating content and running for president. Now, in his final months, he wants voters to hand him the ribbon-cutting for an icon that’s been rotting away for more than three decades during which it has become a magnet for graffiti artists and taggers.

The city’s capital improvements department shored up the structure two years ago and posted a YouTube video about it, saying it was the beginning of the renovation. The repair of corroded grandstand support columns reportedly cost $3 million.
But the renovation stalled, again. Now, Baby X clearly wants to fast track this legacy project.
Ladra could find no trail linking Spectra to Mayor Suarez. Zero. Nada. Which is surprising. He is a senior partner at DaGrosa Capital Partners, which invests in sports, healthcare, and real estate. Keyword: Sports. And he has also received payments from a real estate developer with a Miami project for consulting services. Who knows how many side gigs Suarez has.
Read related: What corruption probe? Mayor Francis Suarez enjoys Egypt wedding, Miami F1
So, let’s not get complacent. Given 305 politics, “nothing to see here” often comes with a wink and a whisper. We’ll keep our ear to the ground. If Spectra starts sponsoring private gala dinners with the mayor, Political Cortadito readers will be the first to know.
According to an article this week in Miami Today, the company is working under the name OVG360, or Oak View Group, which incorporated in Florida on July 22. So it’s brand new. Principals are Alexander and Maria Rojas of Kendall. Alexander Rojas also opened another corporation in April, 3CM Development, with Hector Muruelo, senior project manager at Terra, and a veteran of residential and hotel development.
Spectra has managed the Miami Beach Convention Center for 12 years and Oak View won a new contract with the city in April.
One rendition of what a renovated Miami Marine Stadium might look like.
Their proposal for the marine stadium project is all bells and whistles: better acoustics, expanded seating, an eco-friendly Flex Park, “world-class” everything and fancy new food options. Breakwater Hospitality (The Wharf, Pier 5, JohnMartin’s) and Groot Hospitality (restaurants and nightclubs) is in the mix. They promise to pour $10 million into the facility — half after the opening and the other half five years later. In return, they want a 10-year contract with three possible 10-year renewals, a $500K annual management fee, plus commissions on sales, sponsorships and a cut of the booze and burgers.
In other words: everybody makes money if the place makes money. Which sounds fair until you remember how often these “public-private partnerships” end up being a public expense and a private payday.
Ladra was unable to get details on who actually pays for the restoration, which was last estimated to cost about $62 million. The commission approved $45 million in bonds for the project in 2016, but the ability to access to funds has expired. Earlier this year, city leaders discussed funding the restoration with a new bond, historic preservation tax credits and/or tax revenue from local convention facilities development. The National Historic Trust and the Friends of the Miami Marine Stadium (former state house candidate Daniel “Danny” Diaz-Leyva is a board member) have also been allegedly fundraising for this for years.
The 6,000-seat stadium was designed by the late renown Cuban-born architect Hilario Candela when he was 27 years old. When it was poured in 1963, its 326-foot, fold-plate roof was the longest span of cantilevered concrete on earth. It was used as a backdrop to the 1967 Elvis Presley movie Clambake. There were performances by Jimmy Buffet and others and a political rally for Richard Nixon. It was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2018.
This month, it was used as a backdrop for a GQ cover photo of football player and “America’s sweetheart” Travis Kelce, a copy of which could already set you back $14.99 on eBay.
Read related: City of Miami drops legal fight to change/cancel election, takes it to voters
The marine stadium deal is the second ballot item Miami commissioners will discuss Friday. They are also teeing up a referendum on moving city elections to even-numbered years, after courts slapped down their attempt to give themselves an extra year in office. So, Miamians may be asked to bless both an “election reform” and a management deal for the marine stadium in the same election the city tried to cancel just weeks ago.
Will voters bite? Maybe. After all, the nostalgia for the marine stadium and the glory days of powerboat races, rowing regattas, Easter Sunday services, and boat-in concerts under the stars on Biscayne Bay runs deep. But Ladra can’t help but wonder: Is this really about saving a landmark for the people?
Or is it about delivering a shiny new venue to the same old power players who always seem to score these city contracts while providing a new, positive footnote for the mayor’s Wikipedia page?
The post Miami Marine Stadium’s revival plan could be on city’s November ballot appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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What do 100,000 people, 1,000 pilings and 450 docked boats have in common? These are the nightmares that plague the people in Key Biscayne as the Miami International Boat Show begins today at the long-abandoned Miami Marine Stadium and its environmentally sensitive surrounds.

When the county gave the go ahead for the boat show to use the property, it did so only to test the waters, so to speak, and see if the location could hold the crowds, traffic and environmental impact without too terribly disturbing residents who feel cut off from the mainland whenever an event comes to the Key.

Read related story: Boat Show battle comes to Miami-Dade for ‘temporary’ pass

That is why the village sent an email blast out Wednesday asking people to be “our eyes and ears on the ground” for the first ever boat show on Virginia Key and share images and stories about their experiences during the next three to four days, the duration of the event. They want people to post photos of what they apparently expect to be a catastrophy and even created a hashtag — #BoatShowReality.

Here is what they said in the unsigned email:

“The Miami International Boat Show will officially begin this Thursday (February 11, 2016), raising questions as to how this large scale event will impact one of our community’s most delicate and sensitive ecosystems.

The Miami International Boat Show has already shown considerable disregard for this environmental habitat, creating serious concerns for what the next four days will bring:

• Water taxis and boats crisscrossing through critical wildlife areas and manatee zones

• Harmful shoreline erosion caused by hundreds of docked boats

• Toxic litter polluting the water

• Threats to endangered marine life

Following this event, the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County will decide whether or not to allow the Boat Show’s return to Virginia Key.  Help us keep them accountable by being our eyes and ears on the ground.

Share images on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #BoatShowReality or email them to BoatShowReality@gmail.com.”

Meanwhile, preservationists are hoping the event will help shed light on the unique historic significance of the iconic stadium.

Ladra remembers watching boat races and concerts at the Miami Marine Stadium in the 70s.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Dade Heritage Trust are launching a petition to get public support for fulling restoring the stadium and will staff an informational kiosk throughout the Boat Show, which ends Monday.

Attendees can learn more about the history of the stadium and the National Trust is working with local artists to illuminate the stadium using projections of vintage footage.

They kiosk will also have copies of the petition — also available online at www.SavingPlaces.org/stadium — which calls on the Miami City Commission to make the stadium restoration a priority this year.

The City of Miami has already committed more than $20,000,000 to make improvements to the land around the stadium, including the creation of a flex park. Additionally, the preservationists believe there are other positive developments that indicate that the restoration effort is gaining momentum:

• A nomination to add the stadium to the National Register of Historic Places has been prepared for the U.S. Department of the Interior and is pending approval by the Miami City Commission. If named to the National Register, restoration work at the stadium would qualify for federal historic tax credits, which would reduce restoration costs by approximately $6 million.
• The Miami City Commission created an advisory committee — on which both the Dade Heritage Trust and the National Trust serve — to help shape a long-term vision for Virginia Key, including a comprehensive business plan that includes the renovation and re-opening of Miami Marine Stadium to the public
• In December, the city issued an RFQ for architectural and engineering services for the stadium. The response due date was recently extended to Wednesday, Feb. 17. 

I suppose we will have to see after the #BoatShowReality tour ends on Monday whether the event was a calamity or a catalyst for the restoration of a community gem.

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