March 23, 2007 [LINK / comment]
"After further review," it turns out that prospects for a new ballpark in Miami have actually improved this month. Both the Miami-Dade County Commission and the Miami City Commission have passed preliminary authorization to jointly fund a $490 million stadium for the Florida Marlins. It would be located in the city of Miami (not in ecologically-sensitive Hialeah, thank goodness), and there is an emerging consensus to build it on the site of the Orange Bowl. A decision on the stadium site is expected in late April or early May. As reported by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (hat tip to Bruce Orser),
The ballpark proposal calls for the Marlins to contribute $207 million mainly in rent payments; the county to chip in $145 million in hotel bed taxes; and the city to contribute $108 million in hotel bed and tourist development taxes. The $60 million state sales tax rebate would cover the remainder.
Well, that's certain a better deal for John Q. Public than the stadium funding agreement reached in Washington last year. Field of Schemes has a more recent post on the Miami story, expecting that the Florida legislature will pass the necessary tax measures.
The Stadium names page has been updated with recent stadium name changes and new stadium construction projects, and has been reformatted with a scrolling table, like the one on the Stadium statistics page. If there are any glitches in it, please let me know.