MLB Ballparks: MARLINS STADIUM
You knew this place was an unmitigated disaster from the start.
First, tear down the historic Orange Bowl for a new baseball stadium. The Orange Bowl, and the surrounding neighborhood needed a huge facelift. Built in the middle of an older residential community, nothing about the area says modern entertainment complex.
Jeffrey Loria, then-owner of the Miami Marlins scammed hundreds of millions to build the glassy, modern stadium. It is true you need a roof to combat Florida’s tropic heat and rain. Much like a bored middle school student working on a science project that was the only thing Loria got right.
From décor screaming 1970s mall tile to walls a television weather forecaster would love in their studios, it is a giant green screen; Marlins Stadium is unique the same way you hear stories of grandmothers serving tomato-flavored gelatin. One so far-fetched, it is real.
With the team drawing flies for crowds, the place as no vibe. You can hear the oxygen running through the fish tanks near home plate. The moon has more atmosphere than your average July game.
The home run sculpture, with dancing fish and such, is so out there that Sid and Marty Krofft from 1970s bizarre children’s television shows think it is gaudy. Yep, the old home of Super Bowl III and the Miami Hurricanes indeed is a circus.
A circus the city of Miami will pay for another generation. As with Olympic Stadium in Montreal, this white elephant is going nowhere.