April 21, 2003
Miami stadium plans clear as mud
A report in the Miami Herald on the Florida Marlins owners' hopes for a new stadium indicates the following: the team owners are willing to pay for part of a $450 million facility but "aren't ready to say how much"; Miami city manager Joe Arriola "doubt[s] very seriously we could contribute toward construction" but "could help with land and infrastructure"; Arriola ruled out using tax money, but said bond issues ''could make sense." (Herald reporter Barry Jackson apparently failed to ask how the bonds would be paid off.) Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, who formerly failed in efforts to shake down Montreal for a new stadium when he owned the Expos, wants to start construction by 2004 on the site of Miami Arena - built in 1988 at $52.5 million in public expense, then abandoned in 1999 when both the Miami Heat and Florida Panthers got even newer facilities.
