The fate of the historic Miami Marine Stadium’s future manager will be in the hands of voters at Tuesday’s election.
If approved by Miami residents, Miami Referendum 2 will grant a management contract of up to 40 years with Global Spectrum, a subsidiary of Oak View Group, one of the country’s largest sports and entertainment venue operators. The group would also provide $10 million toward the restoration.
The restoration calls for converting the stadium’s parking lot into a public water park and recreational facility that would also host events.
Oak View Group would secure a 10-year management agreement with three renewal options, and the city would receive 93 percent of event sales, after deducting a $33,333 monthly management fee. The city would also receive 85 percent of sponsorship revenues.
The Oak View subsidiary would receive a $400,000 annual base fee, plus incentive fees of 7 percent on gross revenue and food and beverage sales, and 15 percent on sponsorship and premium seating revenue.
Built in 1963, the Miami Marine Stadium featured a 6,500-seat concrete grandstand that drew crowds for high-speed boat races, concerts and other major events. It hosted powerboat competitions, hydroplane races, as well as performances by iconic music acts including Queen, Ray Charles, Jimmy Buffett and the Beach Boys. Elvis Presley also filmed scenes for his 1967 movie “Clambake” at the stadium, including its climactic speedboat race.
It also hosted boxing and wrestling matches, Easter sunrise services and political events, including a 1972 rally where Sammy Davis Jr. famously embraced President Richard Nixon.
The stadium closed after Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida in August 1992. The city declared the structure unsafe and shut it down the following month, then sought $1 million from FEMA for demolition. But a 1993 engineering study commissioned by the city’s insurance company found that the stadium had not sustained significant damage from Andrew and estimated that $2 million to $3 million in repairs were needed because of years of inadequate maintenance and investment.
The stadium remained closed for decades, becoming well-known for its desolate graffiti-covered structure and the subject of repeated redevelopment and restoration efforts. The city designated it a historic site in 2008, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
Voters will decide the referendum’s fate months before a separate Nov. 3 election on a new operator and lease agreement of the Marine Stadium Marina and Rickenbacker Marina.
Miami commissioners unanimously approved placing on the November ballot a proposed lease with Virginia Key LLC, a joint venture between Miami Beach-based RCI Marine Group and Dallas-based Suntex Marinas. That agreement would give the joint venture control of 27.6 acres encompassing the Rickenbacker Marina and Marine Stadium Marina properties, with a 45-year initial term and two 15-year renewal options that could extend the lease to 75 years.
The proposed redevelopment would expand and modernize the marinas with new dry and wet boat storage, upgraded marina infrastructure and fueling facilities, commercial space and additional parking. Across the two-marina site, the completed project would have 750 dry slips, 162 wet slips, 13,000 square feet of commercial space and 630 parking spaces. Two existing commercial buildings totaling 19,000 square feet also would be renovated for potential retail or restaurant uses.
The two properties have different pasts and would face somewhat different changes under the plan, but they have been part of the same redevelopment fight for more than a decade.
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