The fate of Miami's Marine Stadium hangs in the balance after a delayed vote on preservation funds

2022-03-10T16:06:00-05:00

Despite an illustrious history, the prized structure on Virginia Key has sat vacant since Hurricane Andrew swept through the city in 1992. It now faces an uncertain future as city commissioners will soon decide whether to allocate $61.2 million in revenue-bond financing for the building’s restoration.

The Miami City Commission has since moved to defer the planned February 24th vote until late May after Commissioner Joe Carollo urged City Manager Art Noriega to reconsider the mounting financial impacts caused by increasingly costly restoration, which centers around reestablishing its original use as a concert venue.

Previously on Archinect: Rescue Plan for a Marooned Miami Stadium. Photo: Ken Hayden/Saving Places.

“I have been asking for the administration to give me a study to show how much we’re going to be losing, or if they think we’re going to make money, how much are we going to make, in a five-year projection. Nobody will give me that,” the commissioner said at the hearing. “It’s not that we don’t want to look back and enjoy history, but you can’t bring everything back again.”

Previously on Archinect: Architect of famed Miami Marine Stadium, Hilario Candela passes away at 87. Photo: Ken Hayden.

Miami had previously approved $45 million in now-expired funding for a restorati...

Architect of famed Miami Marine Stadium, Hilario Candela passes away at 87

2022-01-21T11:57:00-05:00

"Candela believed the campus buildings and the spaces between them were equally important. He described the campus master plans as “a small city of interconnected geometric masses and urban plazas,” and composed the buildings around structural systems of towering columns and cantilevers, connected by covered walkways."

Cuban American architect Hilario Candela passed away this week at the age of 87 due to complications with Covid-19. With his partner, Peter Spillis, who passed last year in March, the duo were pioneers in the development of Miami's architectural scene with their eponymous firm Spillis & Candela. But at the young age of 28, Candela created what will surely be remembered as his masterpiece; a poured concrete stadium with a sweeping geometric cantilevered roof known as the Miami Marine Stadium. Although the stadium sits idle today waiting for restoration efforts, it was once home to speed boat races, concerts, and many other activities along the waterfront at its location in Key Biscayne. The impressive structure was considered the longest cantilever in the world at the time of its creation, which Candela created in order for all 6000 plus seats to get a glimpse of the water and downtown Miami skyline. It has since been designated as a National Treasure from the National Trust of ...

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The fate of Miami's Marine Stadium hangs in the balance after a delayed vote on preservation funds

Architect of famed Miami Marine Stadium, Hilario Candela passes away at 87