When Was The Miami Marine Stadium Built
A maritime stadium known as the Miami Marine Stadium and located in Miami, Florida, United States was a powerboat racing stadium built at Miami Beach in 1963 on land provided by the Matheson family. It was the first of its kind in the United States and for the first time has been included in the National Register of Historic Places.
History
Architect Hilario Candela, a 28-year-old Cuban immigrant, developed the 6,566-seat stadium in 1963 on land donated for water sports at a cost of $2 million and on the first day of competition, James Tapp, a speedboat racer, was killed in a high speed accident.
Mitch Miller, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Richard Nixon were just some of the celebrities who attended events at the facility, which was located just south of Downtown Miami.
A vacant land between the stadium and MAST Academy was chosen as the new home of the Miami Rowing Club then known as Planet Ocean museum in 1979. For more than 40 years, Miami Rowing Club has held the Miami International Regatta, with a 1,500-meter, seven-lane course.
In addition to water sports, the stadium hosted concerts, sporting events including boxing and even featured heavily in the 1967 Elvis Presley film Clambake as the setting of Elvis’ famous speedboat race.
Why Did Miami Marine Stadium Close
On September 18, 1992, in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, the Miami-Dade County Building Code declared the structure dangerous and residents of the county committed $3 million in municipal bonds in 2004 to help fund the restoration and rehabilitation of the buildings.
Founder of Restore Miami Marine Stadium, Donald Worth, says the stadium is in danger of collapsing like the Surfside condos if it isn’t repaired. It would be “embarrassing” for the city, he said to the board of advisers. “If it happens, I’ll be up all night worrying about it.”
Worth stated that the city of Miami wasted a lot of money managing Miami Marine Stadium between 1986 and 1992 so they chose to close it after Hurricane Andrew left the facility unsafe.
He said that Miami’s financial woes were not limited to the stadium, “The city has never been successful in any arena it has operated,” he said. “They were constantly losing money.”
What Was The Miami Marine Stadium Used For
Unlimited Hydroplane, Inboard Outboard, Performance Craft, Stock, Modified, Grand National, and various special event races were held at the Stadium.
There was also the Orange Bowl Regatta (a powerboat race), Bill Muncey Invitational, and the ESPN All American Challenge Series held at the stadium. The 20th Annual Budweiser Hydroplane Regatta, held June 1–3, 1990, was the last big race held in the Stadium.
The Miami International Boat Show and the 2019 USA Swimming Open Water National Championships were both held here in recent years.
A refuge for graffiti artists since its desecration in 1992, the stadium is nonetheless popular with tourists who come to photograph Miami’s downtown business areas and barrier islands.
How Was The Miami Marine Stadium Designed
The Miami Marine Stadium has a stunning folding plate ceiling supported by eight enormous slanted columns anchored in the ground via the grandstand that are poured fully in concrete and were held together by a large horizontal beam.
As far back as possible to allow for unimpeded views of the waterway, a cut in the seating arrangement allowed spectators to enjoy the full view with no blocked areas.
For more than a year in 2009, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Miami Marine Stadium one of America’s eleven most endangered historic places.
As of April 18, 2012, the American Institute of Architects in Florida recognised the stadium as one of the state’s finest examples of architecture and one of the top 100 in the world.
Who Owns The Miami Marine Stadium
To help restore and reopen Marine Stadium, a group called Friends of Miami Marine Stadium was established in 2008. Gloria Estefan is a big donor to the Friends of Miami Marine Stadium through her charitable foundation.
One year later, in late 2014, a renovation plan and supposed funding were presented by the organisation that had been granted management of the stadium site by Miami in 2013 and because the city decided to let a private corporation run the stadium.
Donald Worth thought it was an excellent decision because they could put on at least 30 performances a year adding that a lot of recording artists enjoy playing in small settings and they’ll “draw crowds and bring in some much needed revenue.”
Revenue bonds totalling up to $45 million were approved by the Miami City Commission in 2016 and the restoration plans were completed with the help of a design firm but the bond authorization had run out by then.
It was anticipated that city commissioners would vote on a $61.2 million revenue bond financing on February 24, 2022 but there will be no vote until the end of May 2022 at the earliest.