MIAMI (AP) -Miami-Dade County commissioners Tuesday approved a public works project that includes a new stadium for the Florida Marlins.
The ballpark would be built on the site of the Orange Bowl. The agreement also includes a performing arts center, port tunnel project and soccer stadium.
The project calls for a 37,000-seat retractable-roof ballpark. According to a revised county proposal, the stadium would be funded, in part, by hotel bed tax dollars and a large, upfront contribution from the Marlins.
“What happened today was a very important agreement between the city and the county, which sets up Miami to be a world-class city well into this century. But without a signed binding deal, many of the things approved today cannot happen,” Marlins president David Samson said. “The city, team and county are going to negotiate quickly and try once and for all after all these years to have a done deal in short order.”
Samson said the estimated cost of the new stadium is now $515 million.
The Orange Bowl was left without a primary tenant in August, when the University of Miami announced its football team would leave after this season.
The Florida Legislature failed to approve a $60 million subsidy in May that would help build the stadium. In recent years, proposals for a new stadium have come before the Legislature and failed.
“You have to have foresight and you have to have guts to stand in front of these issues,” Commissioner Jose Diaz said. “We don’t have a GM plant here, we don’t have a McDonnell Douglas plant – we depend on tourism and trade.”
Under the proposal, the city would also build a parking lot for the team, which finished last in the majors in attendance this season.
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