The world has seen developments in architecture and construction industry which have resulted in incredible buildings being put up (Structures et al. 2007). Some of these buildings have remained in used over a long period while others have been abandoned after they were considered unsafe. Those buildings deemed unsafe have become subject to discussions on their fate, with governments failing to find solutions on how to handle them. One such endangered construction is the Marine Stadium.
Marine Stadium (Miami, Florida: 1963)
The stadium is located in Virginia Key in Miami, Florida. It was designed by a Cuban born architect Hilario Candela. It was constructed in the year 1963 along the Miami Beach on Biscayne Bay. The land on which the construction was built was donated by Matheson Family. It sits on 240 acres piece of land. The cost of constructing this spectacular site was estimated to be $2,000,000. It was the first building to be built with a sole purpose of hosting power-boat racing in the United States of America. This construction was the most elegant on this side of the city. It boasted of the most protracted span of cantilevered concrete in the world. The roof was 326-foot-long. The stadium used to host events such as floating concerts. A stage used to be moored to the shore on which artists could perform from. It was a site of attraction which attracted residents of Florida from all walks of life to experience the site of floating concerts.
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For decades, the residents of Florida attended concerts, watched powerboat races and even attended religious services under the comfort of this stadium. This was until it was declared unsafe due to hurricane concerns by the city in the year 1992. The areas underneath the spectacular overhang quickly became a canvas of graffiti art. This has been as a result of lack of maintenance by the authorities as the building was no longer in use. The residents of Florida have avoided moving to the building for fear of their lives except for graffiti artists who have turned it into their haven. It has also turned into an attraction site due to its photographic panoramic view of the central business districts and barrier islands of Miami. However, the construction has not succumbed to the fears of the city’s authorities.
On April 28, the year 2009, the National Trust for Historic Preventions named the stadium to the list of 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Attempts to restore the stadium have been made. In the year 2008, Candela and others formed a group called Friends of Marine Stadium with a sole purpose of restoring the stadium (Bulit, 2015) Bottom of Form
. The group embarked on advocacy to improve, and after some years of advocacy, they got support from the local government organizations to rebuild the stadium. The group was given control of the stadium in the year 2013 and returned with a revitalization proposal in late 2014 (Bulit, 2015) Bottom of Form
. In the proposal was a way to raise funds to support the project, among them being the Miami Marine Stadium Boat Show in the year 2016 (Bulit, 2015) Bottom of Form
.
Restoration Method
The stadium has become a heritage of the Florida people. It holds history as the first American stadium to host the motor boat show. It also provided grounds for events such as religious services and floating concerts which are of common interest to the people of Miami. In supporting the restoration of the Miami Marine stadium, we stand in support of the common goal by the Miami people to have their heritage restored, and activities resumed as was the original intention (Nadal, 2012).
This method is also justified by the fact that the residents of Miami have already commenced efforts to restore the stadium. People have come together for the common goal of restoring the stadium. This has resulted in controlling of the stadium back to the people of Miami. Candela and his group of the Friends of Marine Stadium have commenced control of the reconstruction process of the stadium which demonstrates the zeal to restore the construction to its original state (Nadal, 2012) .
This method has also seen other interested partners such as F1 ChampBoat Series; a motorboat racing organizer has expressed interest in using the stadium upon its complete restoration. They wrote to the Friends of Marine Stadium expressing their interest in having their competition hosted at Marine Miami Stadium. The organization has a widespread network of followers from their televised competition in the speed channel. This will expose the stadium further to other similar organizations.
Neptune Florida Yacht Club has members who in the past had used the club to undertake their marine activities. In a letter to the Marine Stadium restoration committee, the club provided a list of its members who were looking forward to the resumption of activities at the stadium for them to resume usage.
Other Options Available for Miami Marine Stadium
There are other methods which are at the disposal of the Miami people about the stadium. These methods and the reasons why they are not best suit are discussed below:
• Re-purpose the usage of the construction after reconstruction. The field could be reconstructed to be used for other purposes. However, this could lead to a loss of value on the construction as, since its development, it suits best in hosting motor boat races among other beachside activities of importance to the people of Miami.
• Stabilize the current building state. This is a more reserved method of maintaining the stadium to the future. However, it will remain useless to the people of Miami as it will not allow the activities which were taking place in the stadium to resume. Thus, within no time, the construction will result back to being a haven for graffiti artists.
• Leave the building alone. This method is the most ineffective to Marine Stadium. This is because it leads to no efforts of improving the stadium’s state of affairs and could eventually lead to a complete shutdown of the stadium owing to erosion of its state. Though it will hold the good heritage associated with it for longer, its lifespan will be shortened and eventually its historical importance aspect.
• Razing the construction of complete destruction. This method leads to complete extinction of the construction. The construction holds with itself a lot of important historical aspects of the American history. It also carries the pride of the people such as Candela who was the designer. Complete destruction of the building, therefore, means that all the above important aspects of the building will only remain in history books with no evidence of its existence remaining. It, thus, serves no purpose to raze the building to complete destruction. It’s going to have a negative impact on the social being of Miami residents, some such as the Matheson Family and Candela having a personal attachment to the building.
References
Cornelissen, G., Kruså, M. E., Breedveld, G. D., Eek, E., Oen, A. M., Arp, H. P., Raymond, C., ... Gunnarsson, J. S. (January 01, 2011). Remediation of contaminated marine sediment using thin-layer capping with activated carbon--a field experiment in Trondheim harbor, Norway. Environmental Science & Technology, 45, 14, 6110-6.
Bulit, D. (2015). Lost miami: Stories and secrets behind magic city ruins . Bottom of Form
Nadal, H. (2012). Tide of change: Miami Marine Stadium Redevelopment Plan .
Structures Congress, Lyons, R., & American Society of Civil Engineers. (2007). Structures 2007: New horizons and better practices : proceedings of Sessions of the 2007 Structures Congress, May 16-29, 2007, Long Beach, California, USA . Reston, Va.: American Society of Civil Engineers.
