Virginia Key Considered For New Stadium

[Tad Footeball]

What's max attendance at the Sony Open? 20000 on the grounds at its peak? The one way in-one way out nature of Virginia Key would concern me.

 

[MadCane]

...One accident and that place is completely unaccessable.

Yea, don't see how that'll work. Also I don't get point about the picturesque setting being a plus. ESPN always says, "we're here live from South Beach", for every home game when we're nowhere near it anyways. And yet they still manage to show endless amounts of b-roll of chicks getting sun on the beach with the games at Sun-Life.

Agree with it being a terrible idea. One route into and out of the stadium area. One. How many people will be late to their seats? How many hours will it take to get out of there?

Sunlife has mulitple entrances feed by two MAJOR highways turnpike and 27th ave with 826 and 821 feeders...and it takes a solid 2 hours after a FSU game at 11pm at night or 2 hrs at 2pm to get in...yes I see no issues with a one lane in and out with 99% people heading west after a game...

Upgrade the Vizcaya Station and create a MetroRail extension out to the stadium along the Rickenbacker causeway. Only run the trains when there's an event going on at the stadium that day to keep costs down. That'd be fun as **** going out to the games, drinking alongside your fellow Canes with that awesome view, and not having to deal with drinking/driving/traffic/parking.

Then you woke up, and realized that nobody is going to pay to build all of that for about 25 3-hour events a year.

 

[deleted1562]

Yea, don't see how that'll work. Also I don't get point about the picturesque setting being a plus. ESPN always says, "we're here live from South Beach", for every home game when we're nowhere near it anyways. And yet they still manage to show endless amounts of b-roll of chicks getting sun on the beach with the games at Sun-Life.

Agree with it being a terrible idea. One route into and out of the stadium area. One. How many people will be late to their seats? How many hours will it take to get out of there?

Sunlife has mulitple entrances feed by two MAJOR highways turnpike and 27th ave with 826 and 821 feeders...and it takes a solid 2 hours after a FSU game at 11pm at night or 2 hrs at 2pm to get in...yes I see no issues with a one lane in and out with 99% people heading west after a game...

Upgrade the Vizcaya Station and create a MetroRail extension out to the stadium along the Rickenbacker causeway. Only run the trains when there's an event going on at the stadium that day to keep costs down. That'd be fun as **** going out to the games, drinking alongside your fellow Canes with that awesome view, and not having to deal with drinking/driving/traffic/parking.

Then you woke up, and realized that nobody is going to pay to build all of that for about 25 3-hour events a year.

While we're at it, half of the stadium should be a parking lot and half of the stadium (the water half) should be a huge beach. Beach volleyball tailgate with some bikini chics? Yes please.

People with season tickets get first dibs at parking passes, and limiting the parking passes forces people to use the MetroRail (which would be easy and awesome). All those MetroRail riders would make the extension a good investment, and get to the stadium really early to party/tailgate on the beach in that beautiful Miami sun with those beautiful Miami girls.

Here's the breakdown:

Sun Life Stadium has 23,000 parking spaces for 76,000 capacity. That's 3 spaces for every 10 seats. That means a hypothetical 48,000 capacity stadium in Virginia Key would need 14,400 parking spaces. We chop that down by about 50% to ~7,000, so 50% of the exterior of the stadium is parking and 50% of the exterior of the stadium is my awesome beach tailgate.

7,000 parking spaces = 7,000 cars on the Rickenbacker Causeway max. You can't buy parking passes at the stadium, they must be purchased ahead of time. That keeps traffic down because 7,000 parking spaces will fill up and Metro riders up -- one of our main goals.

Assuming 4 people per car (at a max), that's 28,000 people that drove and 20,000 people that took the Metro. At a minimum (1 person per car), 7,000 people drove and 41,000 people took the Metro.

One ride on the Metro is $2.25, so at a minimum a round trip is $5. $10 would be a more realistic (and still manageable) cost. Kids are free or whatever.

So at a minimum of 20,000 people * $5 round trip, or a maximum of 41,000 people * $10 round trip, you're talking between $100,000 and $410,000 in MetroRail revenue each full capacity event.

You would need about 36 sold out events each year -- one every ten days -- at the max scenario to hit $15M in revenue. The entire MetroRail system made only $17M in revenue in 2006. Realistically, you'll probably get a third of that -- 12 sold out events each year (one per month), and $5M in revenue.

The entire original 21 mile MetroRail was built for $55M. I'd say you could upgrade Vizcaya, build the 4 mile line to Virginia Key, and build a station at the stadium for under $30M. If done right, break even in 4-6 years. It could be a huge money maker after that especially once the Canes start winning mad rings again. The key is making the MetroRail easy & extremely awesome and making even the thought of driving a nightmare.

Just don't get rid of my beach. It's goin down.

 

[UMJer026]

Key Biscayne barely allows a Walgreen's to be built, and you think they're going to allow a 40k-person stadium??

C'mon man.

 

[x_y_no]

So does the place smell any better than it did 40 years ago when my friends and I used to hang out there at "sewer beach" to drink and smoke pot?

If not, I sure as **** don't wan't to go to games there.

 

[deleted1562]

So does the place smell any better than it did 40 years ago when my friends and I used to hang out there at "sewer beach" to drink and smoke pot?

If not, I sure as **** don't wan't to go to games there.

We should put the entire waste plant in a giant bubble then funnel the gases into a plant that converts them into energy and use that to power the stadium. The savings would fund the cost of the bubble, the bubble would eliminate the smell, and it'd be great for the surrounding environment.

 

[nel352]

Fisher Island will have some say too....

you are dealing with Miami ( politics) and its hatred for anything positive that does not have a way to line some ones pocket it will be squashed

you are 100% correct. Fisher Island would be livid.

 

[nel352]

Key Biscayne barely allows a Walgreen's to be built, and you think they're going to allow a 40k-person stadium??

C'mon man.

The property is not owned by Key Biscayne. Its a city of miami property.

 

[nel352]

The place has plenty of space for a stadium but traffic would be disaster

 

[theEMPIRE]

With the numerous problems at the Port of Miami site (too expensive a land value, too small, too difficult to get to etc.) Virginia Key is considered a viable option. The site there does not interfere with protected mangroves and is large enough for a 40,000 to 50,000 seat stadium with adequate parking and tailgating areas. It would sit on land just to the South of Arthur Lamb road and extend to near the beach and would be West of the Rickenbacker Causeway by 300 meters. Again there is no interference with the mangroves in this area and it would provide spectacular views of downtown Miami, Key Biscayne, Biscayne Bay and it would be next to the University of Miami's School of Marine Science.

David Beckham should go wild for this piece it's better than the Port site, more viable for other events and it will be next to a hopefully renovated Marine Stadium.

This site is being brought up for serious consideration, Key Biscayne will probably object but they have little too fall back on and they already have the tennis tournament there.

Source???

This.

Being "considered a viable option" by whom?

 

[Cane7451]

I have searched all over the internet and other than this thread there is only one other rumor about Beckham building on Virginia Key. But that is from Animal Rights people that want the Miami Seaquarium to close by building the MLS stadium there.


What If Beckham's Soccer Dome Replaced The Seaquarium?

 

[theEMPIRE]

I have searched all over the internet and other than this thread there is only one other rumorabout Beckham building on Virginia Key. But that is from Animal Rights people that want the Miami Seaquarium to close by building the MLS stadium there. What If Beckham's Soccer Dome Replaced The Seaquarium?

Sooo...

1: Cindy Seip @SplashFoto: "Underwater Portrait Photographer", graphic designer/activist, aka "mermaid for hire ~ various splashings"

And

2: OP, Lauderdale.

Got it.
Hey, I ain't mad 'atcha.

 

[miamihurricane34]

You would not be able to have night games in the fall, there are turtle hatchlings on the beaches of Virginia Key.

 

[Lauderdale]

As I stated Virginia Key is one of many sites that have come-up in informal discussions. It's a great site but the main concern is the traffic and the Rickenbacker Causeway.

Virginia Key is in the City of Miami and not Key Biscayne. The mangroves would not be harmed, the beaches would remain as they are but the stadium and parking garages would provide company to the small beach areas immediately to the East of the Rickenbacker.

It's worth the parties involved investigating, there are not many good areas to build.

 

[MedleyCane]

You would not be able to have night games in the fall, there are turtle hatchlings on the beaches of Virginia Key.

Give the turtles season tickets and they will be OK with the stadium.

 

[gogeta4]

my mother is on th eboard i'll see whats up...doubt its even being talked about

 

[mavericksouth]

Honestly, I don't see them getting Virginia Key or the Port of Miami. There best shot is that parcel of land west of Marlins Park. Don't know if its big enough, but it might be the most plausible to acquire.

 

[Lauderdale]

I think if they can handle the tennis crowds at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne they can find a solution to traffic on Virginia Key. Remember the old bridge is still up (with the exception of the draw bridge center) that could be rebuilt and used on game days with a flyover be built right into the marine stadium and new stadium area. There is no ideal solution but to leave all that land for dirt lots and parking lots the way it is a crime. I don't see the turtle issue as a problem for a few night games with limited hours. Right now they use it for music festivals and miniature train rides it's not like it's unused land. Again I encourage you all to look at the satellite photos of the Southwest end of Virginia Key East of the Rickenbacker to see how adequate and beautiful the space is and that it is not environmentally sensitive.

The land being looked at near Marlin's Park is on the North side but it's small and would require City of Miami buildings, houses and commercial building to be demolished.

http://virginiakeygrassroots.com/site-visiting/camping

 

[rsa coral gables]

I think if they can handle the tennis crowds at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne they can find a solution to traffic on Virginia Key. Remember the old bridge is still up (with the exception of the draw bridge center) that could be rebuilt and used on game days with a flyover be built right into the marine stadium and new stadium area. There is no ideal solution but to leave all that land for dirt lots and parking lots the way it is a crime. I don't see the turtle issue as a problem for a few night games with limited hours. Right now they use it for music festivals and miniature train rides it's not like it's unused land. Again I encourage you all to look at the satellite photos of the Southwest end of Virginia Key East of the Rickenbacker to see how adequate and beautiful the space is and that it is not environmentally sensitive.

The land being looked at near Marlin's Park is on the North side but it's small and would require City of Miami buildings, houses and commercial building to be demolished.

http://virginiakeygrassroots.com/site-visiting/camping

respectfully, you have no idea what you are talking about. the old bridge will never be rebuilt. virginia key is next to a sewer station that smells like caca. there is a master plan approved for virignia key's redevelopment that took decades to negotiate. and key biscayne will fight to its death to make sure the stadium is not build even though the land belongs to the city of miami.

 

[AntwanJ306]

I think if they can handle the tennis crowds at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne they can find a solution to traffic on Virginia Key.

They can't find a solution to traffic at SLS with multiple ways in and out of the stadium. But they are just going to "find a solution" to having 40,000 come in and out on one road?