So this is what goes through my rational head as I relax on Saturday evening, reading the Herald, somewhere in the cockles of my mind a subconscious sense of relaxation and satisfaction knowing Miami might be getting closer to pulling off a baseball stadium deal that could begin to help our city liken itself to other successful urban cities, and I come upon this other stadium article. At this point, I slam down the paper and crumble the wad of toilet paper that was in my hand. Are you kidding me!!!
And pause. This is my first posting of substance, so I am trying to set the flavor for what I want to express in this bloggy blog. I want to express my raw emotions and candid thoughts, but will make sure to check them with the rational understanding I have so far acquired through my planning profession, and at the same time leave it open to critique from anyone.
And unpause. So these are my thoughts in a nutshell:
- The Orange Bowl, its identity, and UM's football history there are probably one of Miami's top-20 most identifiable positive traits. Now, for anyone that hasn't noticed, Miami is in the business of killing its own history, but this one right here is too big to kill.
- Wow, how much would it suck for Miami to gain one stadium and loose the other. A true success story! For, if UM leaves the Orange Bowl, I fear the survival of the actual stadium itself, and smell demolition acoming. Oh, and wouldn't this little twist be great ... the Canes move to Dolphins Stadium and the baseball stadium deal falls through or gets delayed ... and we're back to 1980s downtown Miami ... WITH NOTHING IN IT.
- But, alas, I feel bad for the City of Miami. These are two big cash investments that I don't know if the city is prepared to plan for. From my understanding, what the City is proposing to invest in the baseball stadium is our tax money, which is OK with me, and I guess doesn't require upfront funds from the budget. But it seems the Orange Bowl renovations, which the City has openly begun planning for, has an increasing cost that would require some cash from the City. Can't really give a good analysis here, I just know it doesn't sound too good.
- Finally, to UM I must ask, is this the best decision they could make? I understand their want to increase their athletic profit (although $4 million, when you're in the big league that UM is in, isn't that huge an amount of money). Let us for now put aside the question of what would happen to student attendance numbers (up or down?) if it was moved to the Dolphins Stadium. UM has made it openly aware that they actively want to raise their ranking, which for those that don't know involves about 50 factors which include academics, facilities growth, alumni giving, etc. In my opinion, one thing UM misses out on that could really help raise its prestige, is that it has sub par interaction with the area that houses it, be it Coral Gables or Miami. And now, to ponder removing one of its strongest ties to the Miami area, and taking it up north to Dolphins Stadium is a mistake in my opinion. UM has a responsibility to the community that houses it to help us figure out a way - a solution - for how to keep UM football in the Orange Bowl and eventually fix the stadium up.
There are hundreds of other reasons why this seems a bad idea. The intimacy of the stadium for the more action packed college football is appropriate versus Dolphins Stadium's more impersonal feel. Furthermore, what makes the best universities in the country the best - TRADITION!! tradition! Tradition!!
No comments:
Post a Comment