Miami Marine Stadium Needs You. Again.

08/10/2026

Thirteen years ago, I wrote that the Miami Marine Stadium needed us. Thirteen years later, it still does.

After decades of plans, approvals, promises and delays, the stadium is headed to a public referendum in the City of Miami on August 18. This is not the final vote, but it is a critical step toward finally moving the restoration forward.

My history with the Marine Stadium goes back to 2013, when I wrote The Miami Marine Stadium Needs You after touring it with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, preservation advocates, my former University of Miami architecture professor Jorge Hernandez, and the stadium’s original architect, Hilario Candela.

I still remember hearing Hilario talk about the building he designed and everything it had witnessed as Miami changed around it. What stayed with me most was his excitement about its future.

That summer, the Miami City Commission approved plans for the stadium, Gloria Estefan became involved as the “Voice of the Stadium,” and it felt like restoration was finally within reach. By 2016, I was writing about the efforts being “back” again and describing the process as painfully slow.

With Gloria Estefan at the Miami Marine Stadium in 2014, during the years when restoration efforts were gaining renewed momentum.

Here we are in 2026.

What Happens August 18

City of Miami voters will decide whether the City can move forward with an agreement to activate and manage the historic Miami Marine Stadium and surrounding Flex Park.

You may have seen the campaign asking voters to choose YES, #172. Approval does not complete the restoration or reopen the stadium. More planning and approvals remain, but a positive vote allows the process to continue.

After all these years, continuing matters.

Why This Stadium Matters

As an architect, I have always seen the Marine Stadium as much more than an abandoned grandstand.

Hilario Candela designed something uniquely Miami, with its dramatic cantilevered concrete roof, Biscayne Bay as its setting, a floating stage and the skyline beyond it. Architecture, water and performance were conceived as one experience.

You could not pick this building up and put it somewhere else and have it mean the same thing.

The stadium also holds generations of Miami memories, from boat races and concerts to graduations and community events. Its architectural and cultural importance has been recognized nationally for years.

What it needs now is not another conversation about whether it is worth saving. It needs the opportunity to actually be saved.

Miami Marine Stadium Needs You. Again.

If you live in the City of Miami and believe this landmark deserves a future, vote YES, #172 on August 18.

Then share this with another City of Miami voter, because this is one of those moments when caring about Miami’s history requires doing something about it.

Learn more about the campaign at BringBackMarineStadium.com.

I still think about Hilario standing inside the stadium and talking about its future with such excitement. He is no longer here to see what happens next, but the building he created is still waiting

Enough waiting. Let’s give the Miami Marine Stadium its next chapter.