October 30, 200322 yr Yesterday a commissioner from the county and mayor Penelas were guests at a spanish talk show... this is what they said at a glance: 1. Must likely site: Orange Bowl *vomit*. Although Penelas disagrees and said they will be fighting to put it in downtown Miami. 2. The commissioner also dismissed the Bicentennial Park, because the County has commited it to some Museums *Vomit again*. 3. The budget is 325 Million of which the franchise will put 173 M and the County will put 73 M (from tourism taxes). The rest will be filled by either private money (sponsors) or public money (from other taxes). 4. Another guest in the show, a player promoter, said the 325 M sum is wishful thinking; he said the cost could be way over 350 M. 5. Tamiami Park would be another proposed site :mischief2 6. If the money goes up from the 325 M, which will likely happen, the franchise will pick up these costs. Now, this 325 Million cap thing sounds fishy to me. The stadium could cost about 400 M. This means that the Marlins would have to invest in this ballpark a total of 248 M maybe more if they don't get private sponsors for the portion of the money talked about in point 3. This will put the Marlins franchise in severe debt.... Not good :thumbdown The next month is critical, said Mayor Penelas, because they need the county to approve the initial funds (73 Million) before Dec. 1 otherwise this money will be given to Miami Beach. The good news are, that Penelas, Manny Diaz and several Miami-Dade County commissioners are on the same page and working together towards getting this money for the Fish Ballpark.... All I can say is keep your fingers crossed. Because if the fish do not get the deal of a ballpark we will be back to square 1.
October 30, 200322 yr City of Miami Beach is having a special meeting for commissioners tomorrow afternoon at 2pm about the fund for convention upgrades and Marlins new ball park. It sounds like the commissioners of Miami Beach are going to fight to get money for their convention upgrades rather have fund money for a new ballpark. Keep your fingers crossed that the new ballpark wins out.
October 30, 200322 yr Author It sounds like the commissioners of Miami Beach are going to fight to get money for their convention upgrades They better back off... I think that many county commissioners and the Mayors are on our side (I hope)... Let's see what happens. I will breathe normally once they put the first brick on the Stadium down.
October 30, 200322 yr the mayor of miami beach isnt very happy about the 73 million bucks, i hope he backs off.
October 30, 200322 yr the hotel bed tax was initially levied in order to raise funds for the marlins to get a stadium. after the stadium bill was nixed in the florida senate, the county decided to keep the tax but call it the "convention center tax" and give the funds to miami beach to upgrade the convention center. the miami beach mayor can gripe all he wants, but the tax's original purpose was to raise $$ to build the marlins a ballpark. one thing that pissed me off is that the county is only giving $35M of the $50M of bed tax money to the marlins. they want to give the other $15M to miami beach to appease them. bastards
October 30, 200322 yr Did anybody see this? Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday that state money to help build the ballpark in Miami is a possibility, depending on how much the team wants. Link to Article
October 30, 200322 yr All the talk prior to this new proposal that I heard had the cost of a retractable roof stadium going for closer to 400m. Why the lowball number now? If taxes are used (?) that 325 sounds way better than 400
October 30, 200322 yr Could be technological advancements or new cheaper material. I do not know. It is probably somewhat low, but who knows
October 30, 200322 yr Author Could be technological advancements or new cheaper material. I do not know. It is probably somewhat low, but who knows No it will not be lower than 350 M... That is just a fact. The County stated that any money over the 325 M must be picked up by the franchise... Guess what, it will be way over 350M (maybe even 400 M) and Loria will go into debt so bad, that he will probably have to sell the team to someone else just like it happened to Joe Robbe... I am still praying.
October 30, 200322 yr The Beach is starting to work my last good nerve. First they keep fighting the expansion of Metrorail over there when they have nothing but parking problems. Now they want to fight for the funds for the Convention Center....Can't we just push them further out to sea????
October 30, 200322 yr The Beach is starting to work my last good nerve. First they keep fighting the expansion of Metrorail over there when they have nothing but parking problems. Now they want to fight for the funds for the Convention Center....Can't we just push them further out to sea???? Hey watch it! I'm "them", I live on the Beach. As for BayLink, it is not an extension of metroRail, it's a completely different mode of transit and frankly, most people here think (including me) it's really bad for the Beach. The only reason for it is so developer's can continue to build more and more large scale buildings here because "rapid" transit helps with concurrency. At the same time I am one Beach resident who thinks those tax dollars are better used for a stadium, which was their orginal first use rather than upgrading the convention center. And I'll be saying so tomorrow.
October 30, 200322 yr is the commission meeting tomorrow open to the public? i'd love to go there and b*tch, but i have a test tomorrow at 1... but if it's open to the public, i think it'd be nice if more people from here could show up. does anyone have details?
October 30, 200322 yr PROPOSED LOCATIONS Miami officials zeroing in on Orange Bowl area as site of stadium Although plans are still in the preliminary stage, the city-owned Orange Bowl site offers several options for ballpark construction. BY OSCAR CORRAL AND KARL ROSS ocorral@herald.com Miami officials say they are considering several possible sites for a new ballpark for the Florida Marlins -- but the talk keeps returning to one spot: the Orange Bowl. City Manager Joe Arriola said Wednesday the area around the Orange Bowl -- and perhaps the stadium itself, which the University of Miami football team calls home -- is a top contender. The city owns the Orange Bowl, located in Little Havana, and almost all the surrounding land. So instead of a cash contribution toward helping the Marlins get a ballpark, the city could sell or lease some of the Orange Bowl property on favorable terms to the Marlins, Arriola said. ''That's a big consideration,'' Arriola said. ``We could fix the Orange Bowl, rearrange the Orange Bowl, build next to the Orange Bowl.'' Under any agreement with the Marlins, the Hurricanes would continue to play football there, Arriola said. ''The University of Miami will be playing at the OB for as long as they want to,'' he said. City Commissioner Joe Sanchez, whose district includes the Orange Bowl, said area merchants have already started calling him to lobby for a baseball stadium on that site. ''I think the OB is the best site right now,'' Sanchez said. Sanchez said there may be a solution for the traffic jams that clog the area during UM games: The county is already planning to extend the Metrorail to Miami International Airport, and could easily add a stop near the stadium. Wherever -- and if -- a Marlins stadium is built, its price remains in question. Team President David Samson said Tuesday that a 38,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof would cost $325 million. That price tag raised eyebrows, in part, because a previous effort to get a Marlins ballpark, in 2001, used a $385 million estimate. The $325 million number is ''on the low side, at least for what they want,'' said Sean Foreman, who teaches at the Union Institute & University in North Miami Beach and did his doctoral work on subsidies for professional sports venues in Florida. ``For a facility with a retractable roof, luxury boxes and all those goodies, you're talking in excess of $400 million.'' Costs for retractable-roof ballparks have varied widely in recent years. Minute Maid Park in Houston cost $250 million. Miller Park in Milwaukee cost $400 million. Samson stood by the team's estimate Wednesday, saying Marlins architects and other consultants support the figure. Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess said he is comfortable with the estimate -- especially since the club has agreed to pay cost overruns. Herald staff writer Barry Jackson contributed to this report.
October 30, 200322 yr argh. the stadium thing is a waste of money if they have to resort to making it around the orange bowl. that isnt going to do a whole lot for attendance. they might as well save their money until they can afford to build something near the metro rail. this is a waste, they're better off staying at PPS until they can get a better deal
October 30, 200322 yr I say - go west of the arena. City owns the land - big factor in cost savings. Metrorail stop already there. Tear down arena for additional parking & maintenence cost savings. OB site is a traffic nitemare.
October 30, 200322 yr as i look outside my tru-ghetto window, i can tell you that the few blocks northwest of the arena that are supplied by metrorail are lined with multi-colored housing (hehe) and a few schools. it doesn't look there is a lot of workable land (although one could say the same about the miami arena) and it looks like they'd have to do some extensive road construction to accommodate traffic. of course, i'm just basing that on the span of track I can see that runs east/west by the medical center. i hate the orange bowl site! why!! argh, this is not going to sit easy with me. theoretically the only boon for david samson & jeff loria would be the fact that its located in little havana. that, and it *might* be an easier drive for people coming from the north. i still hate it.
October 30, 200322 yr Author Under any agreement with the Marlins, the Hurricanes would continue to play football there, Arriola said. ''The University of Miami will be playing at the OB for as long as they want to,'' he said. And we are back to square one... What the hell are these people thinking? Why would the Marlins leave Pro player stadium (which in these circumstances is way better than OB) to share the stadium again with a football team??? :banghead
October 30, 200322 yr And we are back to square one... What the hell are these people thinking? Why would the Marlins leave Pro player stadium (which in these circumstances is way better than OB) to share the stadium again with a football team??? :banghead :banghead
October 30, 200322 yr Under any agreement with the Marlins, the Hurricanes would continue to play football there, Arriola said. ''The University of Miami will be playing at the OB for as long as they want to,'' he said. And we are back to square one... What the hell are these people thinking? Why would the Marlins leave Pro player stadium (which in these circumstances is way better than OB) to share the stadium again with a football team??? :banghead No, he said the Orange Bowl would stay sine UM wants to play there. the Marlins would get their new ballpark next to the OB. They own most of the land which is now a neighborhood falling apart around the Orange bowl. Most of the homes will be torn down, neighbors moved and the area developed sort of like a sports/business district. BTW, fans from the north will have an easier to time with the OB site. Tri-Rail's New Miami Airport station in the MIC will be about 5-10 minutes bus ride away and the shuttle for the games along with increased Tri-Rail service with the new money given to Tri-Rail and double-tracking will make it easier for everyone, no transfer to MetroRail.
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