Video of Miami Marine Stadium before it goes through renovations

For 18 years, the Miami Marine Stadium in Key Biscayne has remained abandoned, prone to graffiti artists, vandals, trespassers, homeless people, curiosity seekers and thrill seekers.

And, of course, photographers.

That is, when a security guard is not present to chase us away.

And that was the case a few weeks ago when a group of my photographer friends swarmed the stadium in search of photos.

We climbed on the roof, avoided the pot-holes and photographed the graffiti, knowing we were capturing a brief moment in history.

After all, it shouldn’t be long before they start renovating the stadium. At least that’s the plan.

On Tuesday, the Miami-Dade Commission passed a resolution to provide $3 million to preserve the stadium, which was abandoned after Hurricane Andrew turned the county upside down in 1992.

We tried contacting Becky Roper Mackov of the Friends of Marine Stadium, an organization that has been trying to save the stadium, for details but she wouldn’t answer her phone Tuesday night.

So we’ll just link you to the story on CBS4, which at this time, is the only mainstream media covering the decision.

It’s a fascinating place and even though it’s technically off-limits to the public, the gates were wide-open when we showed up a few Saturdays ago.

It’s not like our tax-dollars haven’t been paying that security guard anyway, not that anything has been done to the stadium, as you will see in the above video.

Built in 1963, the 6,566-capacity stadium was designed by Hilario Candela, then a 28-year-old Cuban immigrant.

In 1971, during a Sammy Davis Jr. show, president Richard Nixon – who owned a home in Key Biscayne – walked onstage and hugged the singer.

Since then, it has hosted hundreds of power boat races, boxing matches and concerts, including a Jimmy Buffet concert in 1985.

Buffet, in fact, is one of the supporters of the save the stadium effort. So let’s not be surprised if the name of the stadium gets changed to Land Shark Marine Stadium.

 

Related Categories: Carlos Miller is a featured writer at Miami Beach 411. He also operates Photography is Not a Crime, a blog about photographer rights, New Media and First Amendment issues. See more articles by Carlos Miller. See more articles by Carlos Miller Was This Post Helpful? Please Share It With Others! Tweet

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