Miami voters will soon determine the future of the historic Miami Marine Stadium, a waterfront venue long celebrated for its boat races, concerts and community events.<\/p>\n
The stadium, closed since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, has remained a symbol of Miami\u2019s cultural past.<\/p>\n
The late musician Jimmy Buffett helped cement the stadium\u2019s reputation as a one\u2011of\u2011a\u2011kind performance space.<\/p>\n
Buffett\u2019s daughter, Savannah Buffett, said her father believed deeply in restoring the venue.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad, when he played here, it was not a family\u2011friendly environment\u2026 it was not a show for kids,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She added that preservationists have been essential to keeping the stadium\u2019s legacy alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are the real heroes here\u2026as a music lover, absolutely I would love to sit in these seats and finally see some live music again,” she said.<\/p>\n
Two\u2011Phase Redevelopment Plan<\/p>\n
The proposal before voters outlines a two\u2011phase redevelopment strategy. In the first phase, an event company would build a \u201cflex park\u201d in the stadium\u2019s parking area, installing large tents and temporary structures to host gatherings and generate revenue.<\/p>\n
Those revenues would help the city secure a bond to fund the second phase: a full renovation of the stadium itself.<\/p>\n
Supporters say the plan offers a financially viable path to restoring the venue without placing the burden solely on taxpayers.<\/p>\n
Don Worth, co\u2011founder of Restore Miami Marine Stadium, said the site evokes a unique emotional response.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you speak to people about the stadium, their eyes light up\u2026 the words that are always used are \u2018magical.\u2019 And how many magical places do you really know?” Worth said.<\/p>\n
Financial Terms<\/p>\n
According to city documents:<\/p>\n
The City of Miami would receive 93% of gross sales from all events.<\/p>\n
The city would receive 85% of sponsorship revenue.<\/p>\n
The city would pay a $33,333 monthly management fee to the event operator.<\/p>\n
What the Vote Means<\/p>\n
A yes vote in the August referendum would allow the project to move forward.<\/p>\n
A no vote would force the city to restart negotiations and search for a new corporate partner.<\/p>\n
The measure requires a majority – 50 percent plus one voter – approval to pass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Miami voters will soon determine the future of the historic Miami Marine Stadium, a waterfront venue long celebrated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-332404","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\/332404","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=332404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}