{"id":332203,"date":"2026-07-07T19:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T19:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/332203\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T19:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T19:54:08","slug":"miami-marine-stadium-restoration-effort-moves-forward-with-august-referendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/332203\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Marine Stadium restoration effort moves forward with August referendum"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of Miami\u2019s most iconic landmarks could be one step closer to restoration as voters prepare to decide the future of the Miami Marine Stadium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Preservationist Don Worth took Local 10 News inside the historic structure on Tuesday, showing both its beauty and the decades of wear it has endured.<\/p>\n

\u201cBest view of Miami, absolutely incredible,\u201d Worth said. \u201cThe thing about the stadium is that everyone who comes here is a VIP. Everybody has a Waterbury seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Built in 1963, the Miami Marine Stadium was designed by architect Hilario Candela<\/a> and became known for its unique design, with a portion of the structure built over Biscayne Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cCandela was from Havana, came here as a young architect. He was 28 years old at the time,\u201d said Ricardo Lopez, principal of RJ Heisenbottle Architects.<\/p>\n

The stadium became a destination for boat races, concerts and major events, including a memorable performance by the late Jimmy Buffett.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone I got to talk to that got to come back here had a lot of fun, so I am ready to have a lot of fun here,\u201d said Savannah Buffett, Jimmy Buffett\u2019s daughter and a Miami resident.<\/p>\n

The city closed the stadium following the impact of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and the building spent decades without major restoration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is interesting is after the stadium closed in 1992, the creatives took it over and, in a certain sense, they kept it alive,\u201d Worth said.<\/p>\n

Now, Miami voters will decide in an August special election<\/a> whether the city should enter into a management agreement with a venue operator at the adjacent Flex Park.<\/p>\n

City leaders and preservationists say that agreement would be a first step toward eventually restoring the stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is after revenues are stabilized for a couple of years, the city can go out and issue a revenue bond,\u201d said Miami Commissioner Damian Pardo. \u201cThat revenue bond would pay for the full restoration of the Miami Marine Stadium, which is projected roughly at $65 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pardo said the restoration would help preserve a piece of Miami\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the Miami experience. There is nothing like it in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is not just an iconic venue on the water, it will represent our city to the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters say restoring the stadium would bring the landmark back into Miami\u2019s civic and social life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a monument of a building in front of our greatest asset here \u2014 Biscayne Bay,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cWe are really excited at the opportunity to hopefully see the day when this place can be open for the public again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christine Rupp, executive director of Dade Heritage Trust, said preservation is becoming increasingly important as Miami continues to grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think as Miami grows at an unprecedented rate, they understand preserving these icons are super important,\u201d Rupp said.<\/p>\n

Voters can review the Miami special election sample ballot<\/a> and the referendum question before heading to the polls.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of Miami\u2019s most iconic landmarks could be one step closer to restoration as voters prepare to decide…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-332203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}