Update includes infromation about Marine Stadium Steering Commitee. Economic Impact Analysis is almost complete and capital planning study in underway. Jack Meyer, engineer of the Marine Stadium, passes away.

September, 2012 Update

Friends of Miami Marine Stadium continues work on developing operating and fundraising plans for the Marine Stadum. The Coral Gables Museum will host an exhibition of selected entries to the floating stage design contest and Marine Stadium historical memoraibila in the spring of 2013.  This update includes numerous links to articles done about the Marine Stadium by the Civil Engineering Department of Princeton University.

With the approval of the Memorandum of Understanding, Friends of Miami Mairne Stadium must now work very quickly to pull together plans for the Stadium. We have received a grant for $50,000 from the John L. and James S. Knight Foundation and to continue our planning and feasibility work. We have used a portion of these funds to hire the Washington Economics Group to do an economic impact study. We are now developing our fundraising plans.

The Marine Stadium has generated a signifciant amount of press recently. The Associated Press did a video feature which was syndicated to all of their television affiliates across the United States. There have also been feature articles in The Brickell Reporter and The Biscayne Times, as well as another television story by Eliott Rodriguez, Channel 4 CBS.

We won! The MIami CIty Commission approved the Memorandum of Understading with Friends of MIami Marine Stadium. We have six months to submit a complete operating plan to the City and two years to provide a complete financing plan for the Marine Stadium.

The event to honor Jack Meyer, Engineer of the Marine Stadium was a big success. Over 160 people attended the sold out event at Biscayne Bay Yacht Club. The event featured presentations by Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, Hilario Candela architect of the Marine Stadium three Presidents of Engineering Societies, the Chair of the Depuartment of Coastal and Civil Engineering at University of Florida (Jack's Alma Mater) and friends from Biscayne Bay Yacht Club.

Robert Hammond and Phil Aarons at Miami Marine Stadium

On March 8, the City of Miami Commission will consider legislation to create a partnership between Friends of Miami Marine Stadium, the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority and the City of Miami to develop plans to restoe the Stadium. We are asking people to email the City Commission to support this legislation.

February was a very big month for Friends of Miami Marine Stadium. On Feb. 17, Robert Hammond and Phil Aarons, Co-Founder and Founding Chair of The High Line delivered a lecture entitled "The High Line-New York's Park In The Sky: Lessons for Miami Marine Stadium.  The lecture was delivered to a full house at the University of Miami School of Architecture and was co-sponsored by the Miami Chapter of the American Insttitute of Architects.

We also honored Jack Meyer, engineer of the Marine Stadium at Biscayne Bay Yacht Club. The event was sold out-160 people-and featured Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, speakers from the engineering profession and the Universtiy of Miami School of Engineering, Jack's alma mater.

Information about Feb. 17 High Line Presentation at University of Miami and Feb. 29 Dinner to Honor Jack Meyer, Engineer of Miami marine Stadium

Friends of Miami Marine Stadium to go to January, 26 Miami City Commission meeting to be designated as developer for the Marine Stadium. Call for support! Also, description of High Line event on February 17 and dinner honoring Jack Meyer, engineer of the Marine Stadium on February 29.

to Honor Jack Meyer, Engineer of the Miami Marine Stadium. At Biscayne Bay Yacht Club.

Negotiiations are continuing with the City and they are positive. We hope to be back to the Miami City Commission in the next several months with a proposal to develop the Marine Stadium site.

Robert Hammond Co-Founder of Friends of The High Line and Philip Aarons, Founding Chair, will deliver a talk entitled "The High LIne-New York's Park In The Sky: Lessons for Miami Marine Stadium" at U of Miami School of Architecture on Friday evening, February 17. The High Line is a terrific role model for our effort.

Friends of Miami Marine Stadium will also honor Jack Meyer, the engineer of the Marine Stadium on February 29 at the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club. More details to follow in future emails.

The attached photo is of the Circus Maximus, which was used for chariot races. The shape of the Circus Maximus-the elongated oval-was used to design the Marine Stadium Basin, which was dredged out the same time the Stadium was built.

After a summer pause, Friends of Miami Marine Stadium continues to negotiatie wiith the City of Miami Administration to develop a workable plan to restore the Marine Stadium. We are pleased with the cooperaton we are now receiving.

The movement to restore the Stadium continues to get great press, including an article in Fast Company Magazine.

The initial members of the Board of Directors of Friends of Miami Marine Stadium have been selected. The Board-which will be expanded-is tasked with guiding the restoration and operation and procuring funding for the Marine Stadium.

In late spring and summer, Friends of Miami Marine Staidum began to negotiate with teh City to assume the rights te renovate the Marine Stadium. Our initial negotiations were unsuccessful and we have taken a "summer pause" to recraft our proposal. We expect to have a new proposal soon.

We have received our 501c3 designation and we are in the process of selecting our first set of directors. The Marine Stadium continued to be in the news this summer with numerous articles and in the press, including the sixth editorial in support of the Marine Stadium by The Miami Herald.

This update includes description of the Floating Stage Awawrds Ceremony at the Rusty Pelican and more articles and press. Friends of Marine Stadium announces that it has incorporated and applied for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. We will also be forming an independent Board of Directors.

We continue to seek memories of the Marine Stadium for our book, IF SEATS COULD TALK. This update featured a link to a memory by Stuart Blumbreg, who gave a first person account of "The Hug"-when Sammy Davis Jr. embraced Richard Nixon at a campaign rally at the Marine Stadium in 1972.

On May 2, the winners of the Floating Stage Design Contest were announced Awards Dinner to a packed house of 175 people.

Click below to see the presentation.

The Awards Ceremony for the Floating Stage Competition is announced, and will be held Monday, May 2 at the Rusty Pelican. The Ceremony features a display of all entries in the Floating Stage Design Contest with a cocktail hour, announcement of the winners and semi-finalists, and a keynote presentation by Frank E. Sanchis III, Director of United States Programs for the World Monuments Fund. A three course sit down dinner is also included. Tickets are only $30 and must be purchased by April 25; call Dade Heritage Trust at 305-358-9572.

Sigrid Adriaenssens, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University, recently visited the Marine Stadium and came away so impressed that she has initiated a project about it. She and an undergraduate student will carry out an engineering analysis of the Marine Stadium, and create a 3D printed scale model with the ultimate goal of publishing an article about the Miami Marine Stadium.

The Newsletter also included a "memory" from Champion boat racer Buddy Byers. One time, Buddy was racing and turned the corner to see a water skiing elephant coming directly towards him! We are looking for the photo of the water skiing elephant at the Marine Stadium (in the meantime, this one will do). Buddy's story is part of our ongoing project "IF SEATS COULD TALK", which will be a book featuring stories and memories of the Stadium. We expect to publish it next spring.

Floating Stage Contest successfully launched. The Miami Marine Stadium received extensive press coverage in February and a sample of press is provided. Also, a discussion of the impact of Hurricane Andrew on the Marine Stadium-the Stadium was never damaged by the Hurricane. The MiMo conference of Dade Heritage Trust will be held on March 11-12 and will feature the Miami Marine Stadium. Representatives of Friends of Marine Stadium and the newly reformed Florida Inboard Racing Club traveled to Detroit, Michigan for the annual meeting of the American Power Boat Association, the sanctioning body for boat racing in the United States. The boat racing community is very anxious to have boat racing brought back to Miami.