david samson was just on This Week on WPLG

 

they talked about 4 sites: Orange Bowl, Miami Arena, Bicentennial Park, and the PPS area

 

of course, the first 3 sites are pretty much out of the question

the only one that had pretty much any hope is the huge empty site near PPS

 

i think the new ballpark will be, unfortunately, next to PPS, a site too far away from Miami

What else did he say?

What else did he say?

he said that the biggest factor in not playing at the orange bowl is to avoid playing in a bad area

he also said that he is sensitive to the building of museams on bicentennial park

 

his biggest message was that nothing is off the table, but its pretty obvious that the marlins wont play downtown

Did he say anything about financing?

I think he is not going to show his hand on this one...I am sure NONE Of those sites are the real sites being looked at right now.

Who cares if its near pps. I live in Miami, and I make it in 15 min to all the games. Its very easy to get too. Look at it this way, if you keep it in the area it is in now, people from all the counties can go.

Who cares if its near pps. I live in Miami, and I make it in 15 min to all the games. Its very easy to get too. Look at it this way, if you keep it in the area it is in now, people from all the counties can go.

just like they do now!

 

not

There's two, actually three large lots in the vicinity of PPS. Two are controlled or owned by Wayne, one is owned by an out of town group. Only the latter would allow the Marlins to free themselves from Huizenga's yoke and have the room needed for a stadium AND surface parking. The site is at NW27th and 199th st. It's long and thin and has a potential neighborhood conflict, but I'd take in a minute to end this torture. The downside is it won't have the highway visibility the Marlins would like for naming rights purposes.

 

If it's that one my guess is it will cost the Marlins or the county $10-12 million to acquire it but that sum could be recouped quickly by having the ability to capture 100% of their parking revenue (without building a garage) as opposed to having to continue to depend on PPS/Huizenga and the crumbs the Marlins currently receive in parking revenue.

 

 

Link to site

 

The site runs from 199th st south to almost 183rd street. It is outlined in red on the map ( link above).

QUOTE (JetsMania @ Mar 21 2004, 1:58 PM)

Who cares if its near pps. I live in Miami, and I make it in 15 min to all the games. Its very easy to get too. Look at it this way, if you keep it in the area it is in now, people from all the counties can go.

 

 

just like they do now!

 

not

 

 

Someone said 20% of the Marlin attendance was from Palm Beach.

How do they know that? Have the Marlins ever done a study on attendance demographics?

Well its not that hard to do, except you cant do it for walk up crowds, just advanced sales.

 

 

The marlins have averaged good crowds in the early 90's, so it is possible. Even if they average just 20,000, they would be getting alot more money with their new stadium because they dont have to pay a lease

I'm sure the Marlins' know precisely how many ticket buyers come from where. Credit card companies routinely make demographically sensitive (not name and addresses, etc.) information available for sale.

I don't know. 60,000 for two early games in the season is a good step in the right direction :thumbup

 

 

And a baseball stadium right across the street from PP Park is the best possible location for it IMO. If you build it in Downtown Miami, then you'll have people from Broward and Palm Beach ***** because its too far. If you build it in Fort Lauderdale, then you have people from Miami and South Dade ***** that its too far. Atleast this way, it'll be in the center of everything and people will have no excuses.

I dont know, Dolphin Mall looks promising as does Hialeah Park. But only initially - it comes down to what amenities will be offered to the Marlins. Both locations have plenty of land - which is also in control of the County. As far as I know, anyway.

Has anyone considered or though about Tropical Park.....Instead of having all that space for that ridiculous Santa's Enchanted Forest, why cant the county let the stadium be built on that site? They can donate the land (or even give a 99 year ground lease on favorable terms) and the stadium could go there! Not the best access in the word but better access than Hialeah! Just a thought.

Tropical park has/still is being looked at....anywhere literally....

The one good thing about Tropical Park is the visibility it offers for selling naming rights to a new stadium. The number of eyeballs passing by must be staggering. Outside of that you have all the attendant problems of accessibility. Ramps have to be widened, traffic is horrendous there. Bird Rd is a nightmare. Any stadium that depends on 826 as a major entry/exit highway seems doomed IMO.

 

Then you have the PR fallout from converting what is essentially a kids park for private use. It flies in the face of everything Samson has said about being sensitive to community needs. Personally, it's not a big issue but others will have a field day bashing the county and the team if that turns out to be the location. Can you imagine Linda Robertson railing on and on about digging up four kid's baseball fields (and all the other stuff there) just to make another rich owner richer? OMG. Just what the Marlins don't need.

I am not sure you have to dig up any of the actual park. All that concrete and area where Santa's EnchantedForest goes is large enough and it doesn't take away any of the actual part area (which is further west). Plus, there is already a football stadium there -- why not a baseball stadium.

 

I agree access is a problem -- but I repeat,,,,what is so great about the access to Hialeah?

"...what is so great about the access to Hialeah?"

 

Nothing, absolutely nothing. That's why the Marlins won't wind up there.

The one good thing about Tropical Park is the visibility it offers for selling naming rights to a new stadium. The number of eyeballs passing by must be staggering. Outside of that you have all the attendant problems of accessibility. Ramps have to be widened, traffic is horrendous there. Bird Rd is a nightmare. Any stadium that depends on 826 as a major entry/exit highway seems doomed IMO.

 

 

I agree with you 100%. It may not be the worst place to put a baseball stadium, but its definatly top 3 :thumbdown The traffic nightmare on bird rd. is enough for a person to kill themselves right now, so imagine what 30-40,000 people coming out of a baseball game would do. :blink: