Unorthodox Stadium Idea

A news story on miamiherald.com brought this place to my attention, and I thought of a somewhat unique solution to the problem.

There is a movement to save Miami Marine Stadium on Virginia Key, in between downtown and Key Biscayne, as it is viewed as an architectural landmark to some. It hosted watersports like boat racing, and even some concerts in it's day. But after Hurricane Andrew it's just been sitting there, rotting away as people have tried to save it.





So, I had a thought: why not convert the 7,500 seat grandstand into a soccer stadium for Miami FC? That way the structure is preserved and it would actually get used. I don't know how popular boat races and other water-based exhibitions are these days, but it would seem soccer would make better use of the facility. They could also resume staging concerts and add some land based events to the facility to generate revenue year round. However it would require filling in a portion of the basin to make a base for the pitch, and also extensive renovation of the grandstand. The grandstand part might be done by the city anyway, so all MFC would have to pay for would be the construction of the pitch, and maybe some slight additional modifications(locker rooms, press box, concessions etc.).

This may be something way too complicated or expensive for Miami FC to ever do, but talk about a showcase venue for Traffic, MFC and USL. It would be spectacular. Great views of the bay and downtown, and it's about 5 minutes from the end of I-95, so it's not too difficult to get to. It's roughly the same distance from Broward as Tropical Park or FIU, so it's still feasible to draw fans from the north. Wacky idea I know, but thoughts anyone?

 

Now that I think about it a "floating platform"(it would have to be anchored solid to the shore and the bottom of the bay to keep the pitch from rocking in the waves) with FieldTurf would be the most cost effective, and realistic, way for something like this to work.

Say the effort to salvage and renovate the structure succeeds. That's the county/city's problem. Then, all MFC would need to do is pay for the field platform and other soccer necessities(locker rooms, a camera nest opposite the stands so you can see the crowd on TV, etc.). Even though it's kind of complex, I would think it would have to be cheaper than buying land and building an entire stadium(even USL) from scratch. A big benefit is that the facility could still be used for watersports(just tow the pitch out of the way), which would make the idea of using it for MFC an easier sell to the city/people who want the place saved in the first place.

I'd deal with Turf to be able to have such a unique venue to go to. Natural grass could be doable though if you think about it. 90% of all sports venues with real grass have it growing on top of concrete and drainage pipes and all kinds of stuff. That would probably push the project past affordability though.

...and think of the goal celebrations lol! Serna scores the game winner followed by a dive into the bay!

Ahh fantasy stadiums lol.

 

>>UPDATE<<

Okay folks just on a whim I decided to contact Friends of Miami Marine Stadium, the group trying to save the structure, to tell them about the idea of incorporating a floating pitch into any restoration, like The Float at Marina Bay in Singapore has:



This is the response I received:

All it would take to make waterfront pro soccer happen, if the restoration effort succeeds, would be to expand the plans for a new floating platform to make fitting a soccer field(and football) possible. The expansion of the platform to accommodate the field would open the venue up to many more kinds of events past the usual boat races and concerts, and thus make reviving the stadium more appealing to city/county officials.

So, it's not as crazy an idea as I first thought. The main obstacles would be lighting the field, figuring out a safe way to tow the platform out of the way for marine events, building locker rooms and other needed facilities for soccer, and perhaps biggest of all, getting Traffic to fork over some money to help make it happen(if Miami FC still exists if/when this happens).

for anyone interested, here's the Friends of the Marine Stadium site where you can see renderings of a restored stadium:

http://www.marinestadium.org/

 

Well it's an artificial basin, made specifically for powerboat racing. Not sure how deep it is, but near the shore part of the grandstand is actually over the water on pilings, so it's possible, but floating would probably be cheaper, and preferred, so they can move the platform out of the way for races etc. It would just need to be pulled in nice and close to the stands, attached to the shore and also anchored to the bottom in a few places to keep the pitch steady. The water is usually calm in the basin so it should be doable.

I don't think they would need to expand for Miami FC, it holds around 7,000 people, and if they could fill that out maybe consider expanding in some way. The easiest expansion solution is that anyone with a boat could pull up around the field and watch, which would be cool.

 

Yeah I'm not sure why the place in Singapore has the field so far away. The old floating platform for concerts at the Miami Stadium was set a bit away as well to allow boats to squeeze in between.

For the soccer field though, there is no need for that because any boats could view the game just as well from the other 3 sides of the platform. Being movable they could probably just pull it nice and close for the MFC matches.

To be honest though I'd take it even with a far distance between me and the field. Tropical Park is a horrible stadium with a track and more in between the stands and the field, but it never stopped me from enjoying the games. And with the view and the truly "Miami" atmosphere the Marine Stadium would have, I think we could all live with being a little farther away from the action .

 

To be honest I can't believe my crazy idea has picked up even this modest amount of steam. It would certainly expand the usability of the old stadium and would further justify restoring the grandstand from the city's perspective, but it's so unusual that I'm stunned it's even being tossed around as a possibility. And I came up with the idea before I discovered the Singapore version.

However, if the folks and Friends of the Marine Stadium are concrete in their desire to have a true floating pitch(so they can move it completely out of the way), it just won't work as an MLS venue in my opinion as there wouldn't be enough seats. It would be fabulous for a D2 venue though, but the Strikers(Miami FC) are pretty much settled into Fort Lauderdale now and I doubt they'll go back to Miami.