DOWNTOWN MIAMI

Vote could change face of Miami

Miami commissioners voted for a historic multibillion-dollar deal to transform downtown, including a Marlins stadium and a Port of Miami tunnel.

Posted on Fri, Dec. 14, 2007

BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ CHARLES RABIN AND MATTHEW I. PINZUR

[email protected]

JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

The Orange Bowl site could be reborn as a new stadium for the Florida Marlins.

• New Marlin stadium plan unveiled
• Stadium deal still far from a sure thing
• Miami's CRA must overcome its past
• Port tunnel survives a crucial vote
• Miami, Dade leaders reveal multibillion-dollar downtown plan
• Park plan faces hurdles at city, county, team level
• Video | Miami city commissioners vote on downtown deal
• Document | Resolution setting up changes to Omni Community Redevelopment Agency
• Document | Miami-Dade County's proposed deal with the City of Miami and Florida Marlins
• Document | Outline of the proposed ballpark deal, including non-relocation promise, financing and parking

Moving with dispatch and sidestepping voters, Miami commissioners on Thursday approved a historic public works package that would build a new Florida Marlins stadium and spur a downtown revival.

The 4-1 vote, adopted after hours of debate, embraced Mayor Manny Diaz's vision of a new Miami glittered with billions of dollars' worth of projects.

The package includes money for a $914 million tunnel to the Port of Miami, a Museum Park downtown and a $525 million baseball stadium on the site where the Orange Bowl now sits -- all tied together in one basket through a plan to expand city Community Redevelopment Agency districts. [Continue reading…]

*******

NOTE: Read the South Florida Business Journal's coverage of that same meeting. Ask yourself where blacks fit in in the future plans of Miami? How many blacks will benefit from the jobs to be generated?