The Miami Marine Stadium, built on the waters of Virginia Key, was designed by the exiled Cuban architect Hilario Candela and has been abandoned for over three decades since Hurricane Andrew.
However, its restoration seems closer than ever. On February 12, 2026, the Miami City Commission unanimously approved transferring its management to Global Spectrum L.P., a subsidiary of Oak View Group, with a five-year agreement renewable for up to 40 years. The final decision will rest in the hands of voters in a referendum scheduled for August 2026.
The story of the famous stadium in Miami begins with its creator
Hilario Candela was born in Havana in 1934 and fled Cuba in 1960, following the victory of the Revolution. At just 27 years old and recently exiled, he designed, through the firm Pancoast, Ferendino, Skeels and Burnham, a structure that defied all architectural logic: a stadium that faced the water rather than the land.
The building has the longest cantilevered concrete roof in the world at the time, extending 326 feet —99 meters— without a single column interrupting the view.
The construction began in 1962 and was completed in just 18 months, opening in December 1963 under the original name of Ralph Monroe Marine Stadium.
The total cost was less than one million dollars, equivalent to about 7.7 million today. Candela was inspired by the Hipódromo de la Zarzuela by Eduardo Torroja in Madrid and the structures of the Tropicana in Havana, where he had worked before going into exile.
The Decline of Miami Marine Stadium
For nearly three decades, the stadium was the cultural heart of Miami. It hosted powerboat races, concerts by the Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr., and Whitney Houston, Easter services on floating platforms, and even served as a location for Elvis Presley’s movie Clambake in 1967.
In 1972, it hosted a rally for Richard Nixon where Sammy Davis Jr. embraced him in a moment that became iconic in history.
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew changed everything. The stadium did not collapse—subsequent engineering studies proved that it did not suffer any actual structural damage—but it was declared unsafe and closed.
For more than thirty years, it remained abandoned, transformed into a canvas of graffiti and a symbol of institutional neglect. Candela dedicated his last years to defending it, explaining that the structure remained standing.
The Cuban architect passed away on January 18, 2022, in Coral Gables, at the age of 87, without seeing his work restored.
Preservation efforts garnered international recognition
The Miami Marine Stadium was declared a historic site in 2008. A year later, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included it among the 11 most endangered landmarks in the United States, and in 2010, the World Monuments Fund added it to its list of endangered sites. Since 2012, it has been designated a National Treasure.
The journey towards restoration has been fraught with obstacles. A previous restoration attempt had already created expectations that were never realized.
In September 2025, a new attempt failed due to a lack of quorum and the legal scrutiny surrounding Oak View Group, whose then CEO Tim Leiweke was charged with alleged bid rigging.
Leiweke was pardoned by President Donald Trump in December 2025. Under the agreement approved in February 2026, the city would receive 93% of the event profits, 85% of sponsorship revenues, and up to 10 million dollars for restoration costs.
The August 2026 referendum represents the most concrete opportunity in over six decades to return the stadium to public life.
The Instagram profile Tour with Liesner documenting the evolution of this heritage building in Miami stated: "This is the story of a stadium that floated, was abandoned, and will someday be reborn. The story of an architect who transformed exile into legacy. The story of a symbol that, like Miami, always rises again."
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