CaptainCrunch
02-22-2008, 03:32 PM
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080221&content_id=2383908&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
Marlins' quest for new home ends
Retractable roof a key component of team's stadium
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
MIAMI -- New ballparks have played a significant part in the growth of other markets, and Major League Baseball officials are confident that a retractable-roof stadium for the Florida Marlins will do the same. After an exhaustive day of commission meetings on Thursday, the Marlins reached a "stadium baseball agreement" for a 37,000-seat park on the grounds of the Orange Bowl.
For more than a decade, three Marlins ownership groups have struggled to find a baseball-only stadium for the franchise. The long, often frustrating and flabbergasting quest is finally over.
In separate meetings on Thursday, the city of Miami commission voted 4-1 in the morning in favor of the park. A tougher tussle followed in the afternoon, when for more than seven and a half hours, the Miami-Dade County commissioners went back and forth before giving the stadium a 9-3 approval.
"I think it's terrific. It's absolutely terrific," said Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, who purchased the team in 2002. "We now have certainty that baseball stays in South Florida."
Though there are still obstacles to overcome, such as finalizing security and safety and labor construction issues, the bottom line is that the Marlins have a binding agreement.
On hand to assist the club's efforts over the past few days has been Bob DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer.
One argument the league presented to commissioners that is in other MLB markets where new stadiums have arisen, the parks have been an integral part of redevelopment.
"In almost every case where we've had a center-city ballpark, that's been a catalyst for development," DuPuy said. "It's happened in Cleveland with the growth of the hotels and restaurants in that area. You look at Denver, where they put the stadium down at the end on Blake Street, and the whole city grew out because of the ballpark. Now there must be 20 or 30 bars and restaurants around the ballpark.
"You look at Baltimore, and that whole inner harbor. We think that's going to happen in Washington by the river. We think that can happen down here, too."
Since their inaugural 1993 season, the Marlins have played at Dolphin Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins. Starting in the fall, the University of Miami football team will move into the building.
The Marlins' lease at Dolphin Stadium expires after the 2010 season, and the team hopes to move into its retractable-roof park in 2011.
The cost of the project is $515 million, with the Marlins contributing $155 million plus overrun costs.
"I think the biggest issue with regards to this ballpark is the fact that Florida is a unique market," DuPuy said. "In addition to being well situated for baseball, and having a baseball heritage and demographics to match baseball, it's also a very vertical market.
"The fans, if they are going to travel those distances, are going to want to know the games are going to start at 7 o'clock and that they are going to be over at 10 o'clock. Without a domed stadium, they just didn't have the guarantee of that. To ask people to drive 50 or 60 miles and then run the risk of rain delays, and getting out of there at midnight, just didn't work."
Intense heat and sporadic rain are just two reasons why the Marlins have traditionally ranked near the bottom of the league in attendance.
Consequently, small crowds -- coupled with an unfavorable lease deal at Dolphin Stadium -- resulted in part to the Marlins having one of the lowest payrolls in the game.
Now, with a new home on the way, the focus of the franchise will remain building the product back up.
"I expect our attendance will be much higher, our revenues will be higher, our payroll will be higher," Marlins president David Samson said. "Tomorrow is day one of this process. Now the hard part starts. You will see immediately, over the next number of years, the unveiling, time after time, of new initiatives, new ideas, all leading to Opening Day [in 2011]."
Over the next few weeks, in addition to finalizing several concerns of county commissioners, the Marlins will be working on the stadium's design.
When the team moves into its new home, it will be known as the Miami Marlins.
"We're going to build a team, and keep building a team," Loria said. "You'll see exciting baseball. We care. I'm not going to let it not be exciting."
The lease for the Orange Bowl stadium will be 35 years, and the county will own the ballpark, not the team.
Along with its involvement in the Marlins' stadium effort, Major League Baseball is making a commitment to opening an urban youth baseball academy in Hialeah, located north of downtown Miami.
The academy will be similar to the one in Compton, Calif. From Feb. 29 to March 2, the first Urban Invitational Baseball Tournament will be played there.
"I think it's enormous," DuPuy said about what the academy will mean to Hialeah. "I'd like to accomplish the same things in Hialeah [as we've been doing in Compton]. Compton has gotten national attention."
Exactly when ground will break for the Marlins' new home is unclear, and it could be as soon as November.
"Groundbreaking is a ceremony. I don't know when the actual ceremony will be," Samson said. "But we hope to start construction later this year. That is definitely the hope. There is work to be done."
Marlins' quest for new home ends
Retractable roof a key component of team's stadium
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
MIAMI -- New ballparks have played a significant part in the growth of other markets, and Major League Baseball officials are confident that a retractable-roof stadium for the Florida Marlins will do the same. After an exhaustive day of commission meetings on Thursday, the Marlins reached a "stadium baseball agreement" for a 37,000-seat park on the grounds of the Orange Bowl.
For more than a decade, three Marlins ownership groups have struggled to find a baseball-only stadium for the franchise. The long, often frustrating and flabbergasting quest is finally over.
In separate meetings on Thursday, the city of Miami commission voted 4-1 in the morning in favor of the park. A tougher tussle followed in the afternoon, when for more than seven and a half hours, the Miami-Dade County commissioners went back and forth before giving the stadium a 9-3 approval.
"I think it's terrific. It's absolutely terrific," said Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, who purchased the team in 2002. "We now have certainty that baseball stays in South Florida."
Though there are still obstacles to overcome, such as finalizing security and safety and labor construction issues, the bottom line is that the Marlins have a binding agreement.
On hand to assist the club's efforts over the past few days has been Bob DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer.
One argument the league presented to commissioners that is in other MLB markets where new stadiums have arisen, the parks have been an integral part of redevelopment.
"In almost every case where we've had a center-city ballpark, that's been a catalyst for development," DuPuy said. "It's happened in Cleveland with the growth of the hotels and restaurants in that area. You look at Denver, where they put the stadium down at the end on Blake Street, and the whole city grew out because of the ballpark. Now there must be 20 or 30 bars and restaurants around the ballpark.
"You look at Baltimore, and that whole inner harbor. We think that's going to happen in Washington by the river. We think that can happen down here, too."
Since their inaugural 1993 season, the Marlins have played at Dolphin Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins. Starting in the fall, the University of Miami football team will move into the building.
The Marlins' lease at Dolphin Stadium expires after the 2010 season, and the team hopes to move into its retractable-roof park in 2011.
The cost of the project is $515 million, with the Marlins contributing $155 million plus overrun costs.
"I think the biggest issue with regards to this ballpark is the fact that Florida is a unique market," DuPuy said. "In addition to being well situated for baseball, and having a baseball heritage and demographics to match baseball, it's also a very vertical market.
"The fans, if they are going to travel those distances, are going to want to know the games are going to start at 7 o'clock and that they are going to be over at 10 o'clock. Without a domed stadium, they just didn't have the guarantee of that. To ask people to drive 50 or 60 miles and then run the risk of rain delays, and getting out of there at midnight, just didn't work."
Intense heat and sporadic rain are just two reasons why the Marlins have traditionally ranked near the bottom of the league in attendance.
Consequently, small crowds -- coupled with an unfavorable lease deal at Dolphin Stadium -- resulted in part to the Marlins having one of the lowest payrolls in the game.
Now, with a new home on the way, the focus of the franchise will remain building the product back up.
"I expect our attendance will be much higher, our revenues will be higher, our payroll will be higher," Marlins president David Samson said. "Tomorrow is day one of this process. Now the hard part starts. You will see immediately, over the next number of years, the unveiling, time after time, of new initiatives, new ideas, all leading to Opening Day [in 2011]."
Over the next few weeks, in addition to finalizing several concerns of county commissioners, the Marlins will be working on the stadium's design.
When the team moves into its new home, it will be known as the Miami Marlins.
"We're going to build a team, and keep building a team," Loria said. "You'll see exciting baseball. We care. I'm not going to let it not be exciting."
The lease for the Orange Bowl stadium will be 35 years, and the county will own the ballpark, not the team.
Along with its involvement in the Marlins' stadium effort, Major League Baseball is making a commitment to opening an urban youth baseball academy in Hialeah, located north of downtown Miami.
The academy will be similar to the one in Compton, Calif. From Feb. 29 to March 2, the first Urban Invitational Baseball Tournament will be played there.
"I think it's enormous," DuPuy said about what the academy will mean to Hialeah. "I'd like to accomplish the same things in Hialeah [as we've been doing in Compton]. Compton has gotten national attention."
Exactly when ground will break for the Marlins' new home is unclear, and it could be as soon as November.
"Groundbreaking is a ceremony. I don't know when the actual ceremony will be," Samson said. "But we hope to start construction later this year. That is definitely the hope. There is work to be done."