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Friends of Miami Marine Stadium
Newsletter  #50      January, 2012 

In This Issue
Marine Stadium Legislation
High LIne Presentation
Honoring Jack Meyer
Dade Heritage Trust
Dade Heritage Trust Logo
 Dade Heritage Trust
is the foremost organization devoted to Historic Preservation in Miami-Dade County. DHT was the former "parent" organization of Friends of Miami Marine Stadium
. For more information on Dade Heritage Trust, click here
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  2000 Marines

We passed a milestone last month as we exceeded this number for our email list. We've collected names for the last four years the hard way-the only way to get on our email list is by request.

# of people on Friends of Marine Stadium email list..2030

 

We respect your time and only send emails on average once a month. We do not give or sell our email list to anyone.

 
Al Jarreau at Miami Marine Stadium 
 
Producing a concert at Miami Marine Stadium was always a unique challenge. Many performers enjoyed the experience of performing on the floating stage, but sometimes the unexpected happened.
Click here  to read about the very unusual dilemma faced by John Valentino, who produced the concert. 
 
We continue to work on our book of memories of the Marine Stadium, IF SEATS COULD TALK. If you have a story about your experiences at the Stadium, let us know-we can interview you by phone and write it up. Just hit the "return" button to this email and we'll get in touch with you.


# of stories submitted to IF SEATS COULD TALK .....139
 Presentations of Miami Marine Stadium
 
 We have upcoming presentations on the Marine Stadium to the Pioneers of Dade and The Villagers-with more presentations being planned.

If you know of a group that may be interested in a presentation on the Marine Stadium, please reply to this email.

Total community presentations made to date............48

To: Miami Marines    

Call for action,,,we really need your help

Marine Stadium Legislation Will Go Before
 Miami City Commission 
 
On Thursday, January 26, the Miami City Commission is scheduled to initiate legislation for a public private partnership between the City of MIami, The Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority (MSEA) and Friends of Miami Marine Stadium (FMMS). The goal of this partnership is to restore and operate the Marine Stadium. We are asking you to support this legislation and contact the Miami CIty Commissioners below.

The legislation, as developed by the Administration, is a vital step in moving this complicated process forward. It establishes a Steering Committee that will provide recommendations to the City Manager as to the specifics of the final agreement. The Steering Committee will meet regularly, will be subject to the Sunshine Laws, and will assure the public an opportunity for input. Because the final agreement must be approved by both the City Commission and MSEA, the City can first work with Friends (FMMS) to flesh out the plan. Finally, the legislation designates FMMS as the entity to work with the City and MSEA to develop the Stadium. This is both appropriate and necessary. Since the Marine Stadium was closed in 1992, we are the first (and only) group to come forward with a plan for its restoration. To continue our work, and begin developing both fundraising and operating strategies, we need the commitment from the CIty. The proposed legislation will provide us with this.

Please email the Commissioners below and ask them to approve this legislation. You can simply say the following:
Please approve the legislation establishing a partnership with Friends of Miami Marine Stadium to restore the Stadium.  You can then add any personal reasons why you want to see the Stadium restored. Click on the names to email the Commissioners individually:

Commissioner Willy Gort
Commissioner Marc Sarnoff
Commissioner Frank Carollo
Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones
Commissioner Francis Suarez

To send to all five Commissioners at once, click here

If you are having difficulty loading your email page, the email addresses are below and you can copy and paste them:

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

Please send this email before January 26.

High Line Presentation February 17

 

Iwaan Baan, 2009
Iwaan Baan, 2009

Mark your calendar; on Friday evening, February 17, Robert Hammond, Co-Founder of Friends of the High Line and Philip Aarons, Founding Chair of Friends of the High Line will deliver a lecture at the University of Miami School of Architecture entitled: "The High Line-New York's Park In The Sky: Lessons for Miami Marine Stadium". The event is co-sponsored by the University of Miami School of Architecture and the Miami Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Funding for the event has been generously provided by Cliff and Petsy Mezey.  

    

EVENT SPECIFICS:

 

When: Friday,February 17, 6:00 PM, Reception to follow 

Where: Glasgow Hall, University of Miami Campus,  

1215 Dickinson Drive, Coral Gables  

 

The High Line is a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan's West Side. Owned by the City of New York, it is maintained and operated by Friends of The High Line. Founded in 1999 by community residents, Friends of the High Line fought for the High Line's Preservation at a time when the historic structure was under the threat of demolition. The non-profit conservancy works with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to ensure the High Line is maintained as an extraordinary public space for all visitors to enjoy. You can learn more about the inspiring story of the High Line by purchasing the book by High Line Co-Founders Joshua David and Robert Hammond.   

 

The High Line has been remarkably successful: it is one of the most visited "tourist" attractions in New York City and has stimulated over $2 billion in private investment in the surrounding area. The High Line's trajectory is now being studied by many cities-both nationwide and worldwide. The parallels to our Marine Stadium initiative are significant-and we are extremely fortunate that Robert and Phil will join us in Miami for this presentation.

 

The event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, so recommend that you arrive early.  

Honoring Marine Stadium Engineer Jack Meyer 
 
On Wednesday, February 29th, we will honor Jack Meyer, engineer of the Marine Stadium at a celebratory dinner. Please join us for this special event!

When: Wednesday, February 29th, 6:00 PM cash bar,
           7:00 PM buffet dinner to honor Jack Meyer

Where: Biscayne Bay Yacht Club
             2540 South Bayshore Drive
             Coconut Grove

Tickets are $40 and include a buffet dinner with both Salmon and Prime Rib. Tickets MUST be purchased in advance. To do so, click here

You can also order tickets by calling  800-838-3006 and asking for "The Jack Meyer event". Please note that all tickets are "will call" and can be picked up at the event.

Jack has said that he "designed this building to last 100 years". Through his brilliant engineering work, the Marine Stadium has withstood almost half a century of neglect-and is now ready for restoration.

We will have a fascinating line-up of speakers honoring Jack.

Biscayne Bay Yacht Club (BBYC) is the perfect place for this event. This is the oldest organization in Miami, and the second oldest yacht club in the United States. It was founded by Miami Pioneer Ralph Middleton Munroe-and we are working to restore  the Ralph Middleton Munroe Marine Stadium. To make things even more special, Jack Meyer was a Commodore at BBYC.

We are thrilled to honor Jack for his remarkable achievement.  We are planning a special night for him. Please join us! 
Conclusion


The time for action is now. Let's show the Miami City Commission that we want the Marine Stadium renovated! Please email letters of support-and forward this email to your friends and anyone who may care about the Marine Stadium.   

Let's make it happen!
 

Friends of Miami Marine Stadium
www.marinestadium.org

Enjoy this very unusual view of the Marine Stadium (taken from an airplane) by Michael Stephen McFarland

Michael Stephen McFarland