The new Marlins ballpark will soon have a name.

A deal is close to being finalized on principal naming rights, P.J. Loyello, Marlins senior vice president of communications, said Tuesday.

During a media tour of the ballpark in mid-June, team President David Samson said negotiations were down to two companies.

Continue reading "Florida Marlins' ballpark naming rights deal nearly done" »

The Marlins have lined up the highest profile opponent to open the new ballpark with a pair of exhibitions against the Yankees on April 1 and 2, 2012.

It’s fitting as the Yankees are no strangers to historic openings, and played a notable role in launching the Marlins franchise.

Continue reading "Yankees fitting foe to open Marlins ballpark; they helped launch the franchise" »

Interactive holiday e-cards seem to get better and better each year. Here are a few I’ve received from local sports teams and entities:

Florida Marlins: No matter how you feel about public financing of the Marlins’ new ballpark, it’s being built. This card shows you construction in time-lapse – Have a Constructive New Year, indeed.

Florida Panthers: This simple interactive card covers the full gamut of business at BankAtlantic Center.

UM: This one isn’t from Hurricane Athletics, but there’s plenty of ‘Canes and The U cheer in this card from the University of Miami’s media relations department.

Orange Bowl: This one has a Corona ad feel, but is all South Florida. Enjoy this card from the Orange Bowl.

FAU Athletics: I’m not supposed to play favorites, but check out this card from the FAU Owls, complete with Athletic Director Craig Angelos showing off the under-construction football stadium and legendary football coach Howard Schnellenberger saying "Kwanzaa" is priceless.

Meanwhile, from outside Florida, this one from the Arizona Diamondbacks looks to have been shot in one take… Impressive work.

Miami-Dade County Commissioners passed a resolution today aimed at seeing if the contract to build the Florida Marlins’ new ballpark can be reopened to potentially reduce the public’s contribution to the $515 million construction costs for the venue. The county and city's contribution amounts to $361 million.

The resolution, which directs Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez or his designee to “initiate dialogue” with the Florida Marlins and city of Miami about reopening the contract, was included in the commission’s consent agenda, meaning there was no discussion of the item. Last month the county commission’s Budget, Planning and Sustainability Committee voted 4-0 for the resolution. The resolution was proposed in light of leaked financial documents showing the team made a profit in 2008 and 2009.

Good luck with that.

Continue reading " Marlins Stadium Update No. 868686" »

If you’ve been paying any attention to the Florida Marlins ballpark financing saga, the HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel feature on the subject doesn’t break any new ground.

What it does is put what’s been referred to as “Profit-gate” squarely into the ballpark financing debate. The ballpark may be nearly half-finished – media got a tour of the construction site Tuesday (check out a video here) – but some are still stinging from Miami-Dade County’s and the city of Miami’s decision to put $361 million into the $515 million ballpark, while the team was making a profit.

Documents released in August by Deadspin.com detailing the finances of the Marlins and a handful of other teams show the Marlins had net operating income of nearly $50 million combined for the years 2008 and 2009. Real Sports uses the documents as a way to examine whether the ballpark deal was a fair one for the community.

The piece could easily be used as a campaign advertisement for auto magnate Norman Braman’s campaign to recall Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who declined to be interviewed for the show. Braman appears but both Alvarez and County Manager George Burgess, who also declined an interview, are both shown in clips from Braman’s trial targeting the financing for the ballpark among other county projects, saying they’d never asked to see the team’s financial books.

County Commissioners Carlos Gimenez (whose office sent out the below clip from the show) and Sally Heyman are interviewed about their concerns that county staff did not push hard to find out if the team could afford to put more dollars into the deal. County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, among the team’s staunchest supporters when the ballpark deal was approved, says she feels she was misled during the process.

Marlins President David Samson suggests Sosa is planning to run for county mayor and wants to use her questioning of the deal now to appeal to constituents. MLB President Bob DuPuy defends the deal as being good for the community.

The show, which also includes a touching piece on Marc Buoniconti 25 years since he was paralyzed on the football field, airs at 10 p.m. tonight.

Some Miami-Dade County Commissioners haven’t given up on the idea of trying to re-open the contract to finance the Florida Marlins ballpark, in the wake of leaked financial documents showing the team made a profit in 2008 and 2009.

Commissioners Sally Heyman and Javier Souto have sponsored a resolution directing County Mayor Carlos Alvarez or his designee to “initiate dialogue” with the Marlins and city of Miami to see if the contract can be amended to reduce the public’s contribution to the $515 million ballpark. The county’s and city’s contribution amounts to $361 million. But in order to re-open the contract, the county, city and team all have to agree.

With ballpark construction zooming along at the former site of the Orange Bowl – “on time and on budget,” according to the team – and Alvarez saying in August that negotiations would not be reopened, any amendments seem unlikely.

But last week, the Miami-Dade County Commission’s Budget, Planning and Sustainability Committee voted 4-0, with Commissioners Carlos Gimenez and Katy Sorenson, absent for the resolution directing the conversations to begin.

“I’m going laugh all the way to my second,” said a chuckling Commissioner Joe Martinez of his decision to second the motion to pass the resolution, “because obviously all three have to come to the table, and we can’t force the Marlins. So there’s been a motion there’s been a second. Does anybody wish to be recorded no?”

No one did.

“It’s a funny resolution passing,” Martinez said, “but at least we tried.”

“We can’t say we didn’t ask,” Heyman said. “This body asked. The negotiators didn’t.”

The resolution is not on today’s county commission agenda and has not yet been scheduled for consideration by the full county commission.

There is a date for the airing of an edition of HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel that includes a feature on the long and controversial road to funding the Marlins’ ballpark. The program is scheduled to be broadcast at 10 p.m. Oct. 26.

I haven’t seen the program yet, but those interviewed include Marlins President David Samson, Major League Baseball President Bob DuPuy and county commissioners Heyman, Gimenez and Rebeca Sosa.

OK, not really a stadium update, but a visual development along the way: Fox Sports Florida will debut “The New Ballpark” edition of “Inside the Marlins” on Friday night at 10:30 p.m., following the Florida Marlins-Chicago Cubs game.

It’s the last episode of the show’s 2010 season and it explores securing the financing for the new ballpark along with the design and construction. An interview with the ballpark’s chief architect, Earl Santee of Populous, is included, as is time-lapse video showing the progress of construction on the former site of the Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The ballpark is scheduled to open in 2012.

A trailer can be viewed here.

Other broadcasts of the show are scheduled: Saturday at 6 p.m.; Monday at 11:30 a.m.; Tuesday at 6 p.m.; Sept. 24 at 11:30 a.m.; Sept. 26 at 1 p.m.; Sept. 29 at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sept. 30 at 2:30 p.m. and Oct. 10 at 12:30 p.m.

The Florida Marlins’ new ballpark sales center offers an impressive look at the team’s new home with actual seats, a full-size suite and 3D views from any seat in the venue.

The Marlins have now made those views available online.

The team has set up a virtual tour that gives you a view – and price – of any seat in the ballpark, as well as the interiors of suites and lounges. You can even make a deposit for season tickets for 2012 – when the venue is opening -- on the site.

Of course, the online version doesn’t afford you the opportunity to see the ballpark’s construction going on across the street from the sales center. Check out the virtual seating program at marlins.com/seatviews.

It didn’t take long for Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez to respond to County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa’s request to see if the agreement to finance the Florida Marlins' new ballpark could be altered.

On Friday, Alvarez issued a carefully worded memo outlining the reasons why county administrators weren’t surprised by information revealed this week in leaked documents showing the Marlins were profitable the past two years. He reiterated what Marlins President David Samson and County Manager George Burgess have said this week about the importance of the team’s solvency as a partner in the ballpark deal.

Sosa sent him a memo on Wednesday asking if the team could be required to contribute more in light of the team's profitability.

“Even if we did see the need to reopen negotiations – which we do not – the Marlins are not willing to discuss reopening the contract,” Alvarez wrote in the memo sent to Sosa and distributed to county and city of Miami commissioners and staff members. “Nothing that we have learned has changed our reasoning in a way that would demand or justify new negotiations.”

In fact, Alvarez said he thinks the release of the information – the documents were obtained by Deadspin.com – and the subsequent reporting on it has “misled the public.”

The financial statements show the Marlins had a net operating income of nearly $50 million combined for the years 2008 and 2009. The documents show net operating income of $37.82 million in 2008 when the team’s on-field payroll was a league-low $24.8 million and $11.1 million in 2009 when the payroll was up to $35.1 million.

Alvarez chose to highlight the team’s net income -- which factors in interest, taxes, amortization and other expenses. Those figures show the team earned $29.4 million in 2008 and $3.9 million in 2009.

Alvarez said the figures should give commissioners comfort, not pause, that the team can cover its obligations to the $515 million ballpark. “That the team had a positive revenue stream should not have been a surprise to anyone. It was not a surprise to your negotiating team,” he wrote.

According to Alvarez's memo, the team’s contribution works out to $120 million up-front, $93 million in rent payments, $26 million for the capital reserve (maintenance) fund and any cost overruns on the ballpark.

He said county officials did not see “the team’s confidential financial information during negotiations,” but did do “a wide range of other research before we became confident that the deal was properly structured.” That included reviewing public documents, conversations with the team and potential lenders and financing experts.

He ended the memo with a forward-looking statement suggesting county commissioners may want to join him at the ballpark’s opening: “In April 2012, I expect we will all have reason to celebrate a model of sustainable public-private cooperation when the first pitch is thrown.”

Documents detailing the finances of the Florida Marlins’ and a handful of other Major League Baseball teams (reported by Deadspin.com), of course, reveal details we’ve never seen, but the team’s reaction to them is perhaps most surprising.

Of course, we’ve known the Marlins were making money and have even written as such repeatedly – despite the team’s protestations otherwise. While the release of the documents is, as Marlins President David Samson says, a crime, now that they're out there, here are some key details:

The Marlins brought in more than $75 million in both 2008 and 2009 from Major League Baseball’s revenue sharing program and central fund, before even selling a ticket, sponsorship or factoring in local TV and radio broadcast contracts.

Those figures combined were $79 million in 2008 and $75.4 million in 2009. That’s $47.9 million from revenue sharing and $31.3 million from the central fund in 2008; and $43.9 million in revenue sharing and $31.6 million from the central fund in 2009.

Revenue sharing is the system by which rich teams share revenues with lower revenue ones to even competition. The MLB central fund, which includes sources such as the national TV contract and to which all teams contribute – is distributed evenly. From other national sources, the Marlins got: $7.6 million in royalties and $2.9 million from the team’s investment in MLB Advanced Media – the sport’s Internet arm.

The documents show, the team had nearly $50 million in net operating income combined for 2008 and 2009. That was $37.84 million in 2008, when the team's on-field payroll was a league-low $24.8 million, and a more modest $11.1 million in 2009, when the payroll was up to $35.1 million.

Each time Forbes released its annual team valuations, Samson disputed the figures saying he didn’t know Forbes sources, but he also insisted the team wasn’t making a profit, and if there was one, team owner Jeffrey Loria would put it back into the team.

There are several examples of this, but here’s one from 2007, when Samson was asked about Forbes’ reporting the Marlins had the highest operating income of the leagues’ 30 teams at $43.3 million and with a league low payroll of $24.8 million:

"Very often the mistake that's made is they look at revenue sharing numbers and the team's payroll and take the difference and see profit without looking at our expenses," Samson said.

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria "would want any dollar extra going into payroll," Samson said.

"What's happened is he committed to stop losing money, but he has never said he makes his living from the operation of the Florida Marlins. He simply doesn't want to lose all his money."

Jorge Costales, a Miami CPA who blogs about Marlins finances, has done a great job examining the documents compared to Forbes findings. Read his blog at 2thinkgood.com.

Another of Samson’s favorite sayings about payroll is that it will reflect revenues. When reminded of this during Monday’s conference call with reporters, Samson agreed but quickly added “local.” That’s a word that was conveniently absent from Samson’s previous discussions of team finances.

If you’re going to say payroll matches “local” revenues, he’s more accurate. Local revenue in 2009, the documents show, mainly consisted of $21.5 million in ticket sales revenue, $2.5 million from concessions and $16.7 million in local TV and radio broadcasts.

(As an aside, the documents reveal details of the team’s contract with Fox Sports Florida, which was a major part of its negotiations to build the new ballpark. The team needs regular revenue streams, such as TV money, to pledge against its portion of the construction. During 2005, the documents show, the Marlins and Fox Sports Florida struck a 15-year broadcast rights agreement – through 2020 – that pays the team $172 million during the life of the contract. It started with an initial payment of $40 million from Fox and comes out to $13.2 million this year, $13.6 million next year and $14 million in 2012.)

But this still begs the question-- what about all that “national” revenue.

Clearly the Marlins walked a fine line: if you make a profit, how much public money can you ask the public to chip in to your ballpark? If you say you’re saving the dollars for the ballpark – something Samson says the team has been saying all along, but hasn’t been – that’s a more palatable argument than the team isn’t profitable.

After years of saying the team wasn’t making a profit, Samson on Monday told reporters the documents “confirm everything we have said over the years of how we’ve operated the team.” He went on to talk about promising to secure baseball in South Florida and saving the dollars to put the team in a solid enough financial position to be able to fund its portion of the $515 million ballpark.

“We knew our contribution would have to be substantial enough, with team that did not have commensurate revenue,” Samson said. “In order to satisfy our contribution to the ballpark, we had to make sure we would be a team that would have the ability to borrow money.”

You have to wonder why Miami-Dade County officials didn’t push harder to see the Marlins’ books. And why a judge said opening the books wasn’t required, despite auto dealer Norman Braman’s lawsuit pushing for such, given that taxpayer dollars were being spent on the ballpark.

If the money really was going to the ballpark fund -- as a fan, you can still be angry the “profit” wasn’t going into payroll, but at least you’d know it was planned for somewhere other than the owner’s pocket.

The Florida Marlins are using their new under construction ballpark as an incentive to encourage donations to help rebuild earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

As part of its “Marlins Ayudan” (Marlins Help) community program, the team has partnered with Waste Management and Food for the Poor on a “Homes for Haiti” campaign. Waste Management kicked off the program with a $50,000 donation to build 10 two-room homes. The goal of the program is to build a village of 25 homes.

The first 10 individuals or companies to donate $1,000 or more by Monday, will get a special behind-the-scenes hard-hat tour of the ballpark site. The tour at 6 p.m. Tuesday includes a cocktail party at the ballpark sales headquarters from 7:30 to 9 p.m. and will receive a personalized hard hat. Donors will get to meet Marlins executives and catcher John Baker, who visited Haiti with team officials last month.

To make a $1,000 donation, call 305-623-6497.

Fans can make $10 donations at marlins.com/homesforhaiti or by texting “Haiti” to 25383.

As he helped lead a tour of his team’s ballpark construction site on Thursday, Florida Marlins president David Samson reiterated the team’s desire to host a Major League Baseball All-Star Game in the new venue as soon as 2015.

“We’re going to submit a bid for the 2015 All-Star Game,” Samson said from a spot on the construction site overlooking home plate and with a view of downtown Miami. “We firmly expect it to be awarded because our bid will be so persuasive, given what’s going on in Miami, given what’s going on in this new ballpark. The Marlins had a game taken away and it’s time to get it back.”

The Marlins had been scheduled to host the 2000 All-Star Game at what was then named Pro Player Stadium, but in 1998, Commissioner Bud Selig moved the game to Atlanta’s Turner Field. The reason given was the region’s lack of a new, modern baseball-only ballpark. But the region was also still stinging from then-Marlins owner H. Wayne Huizenga’s decision to dismantle the Marlins after the team won the 1997 World Series.

Samson said he’s convinced the new ballpark will be awarded the sport’s Mid-Summer Classic.

“We feel more confident than ever that putting an All-Star game in Miami under the air conditioning, will be a win for baseball and we feel the commissioner will agree.”

Ground was broken a year ago for the new ballpark and construction on the former site of the Orange Bowl stadium is more than 40 percent complete. The media was given its quarterly tour of the construction, which included stops at different levels behind home plate with views toward the outfield and downtown Miami.

Concessions stands are already taking shape – complete with the bright-colored tile that is part of the ballpark’s signature style. There will be four color quadrants – blue, yellow, red and green – borrowed from Spanish painter Joan Miro’s palette that will easily help fans identify where they are in the ballpark. Already, blue tile has gone up in concession areas.

The seating bowl should be completed by the end of August.

The Marlins have completed priority ticket sales for existing full-season ticket holders and are opening up full season ticket sales to the public – starting with premium seating – on Monday. Samson said 97 percent of existing full season ticket holders have committed to buying seats in the new ballpark, which is scheduled to open in April 2012.

When Herman Russomanno takes his seat in the Marlins new ballpark in April 2012, he’ll have a view of the action from behind home plate and an eyeful of one of the venue’s most unique features: two custom-built saltwater aquariums that will serve as the home plate backstop.

Yes, aquariums. Two-way aquariums – meaning their swimming inhabitants can be seen from throughout the ballpark both inside the stadium and from the field.

As construction of the $515 million venue on the former site of the Orange Bowl continued across the street on Thursday, Russomanno officially signed his contract to purchase four Diamond Club – the new version of the Batter’s Box at Sun Life Stadium – seats in the new ballpark. He was the first season ticket holder to pick his seats in the ballpark’s new sales headquarters, which officially opens next week. When you say you want to be in the first row behind home plate, you get to be first in line to buy your seats, Marlins President David Samson said.

“Spectacular view,” said Russomanno, a Miami attorney and original Marlins season ticket holder. “Beautiful vista.”

Russomanno’s seats cost $325 apiece per game, but would have been $395 if he’d waited three months. Season ticket prices start at $10 a game. The ballpark is to have slightly more than 37,000 seats, including about 1,000 designated as standing room. Check out marlins.com for more information.

The aquariums are designed by Living Color Enterprises of Fort Lauderdale. One measures 34 feet long, 3 feet high and holds more than 600 gallons of saltwater. The other is 24 feet long and holds 450 gallons of water. They will be positioned on either side of home plate to prevent disruption in play and will be constructed of durable, bullet-proof materials to prevent shattering by foul balls and errant throws.

The team’s 1,800-square-foot ballpark sales center sits at the corner of Northwest 14th Avenue and Northwest 7th Street across the street from the ballpark construction site – so you can actually monitor construction from its outdoor plaza. The sales center includes giant renderings of the new ballpark, seating charts, a scale model with roof that opens and closes and video scoreboard that works, and a full scale suite with modern white furniture and wood paneling, just like the ones that will be in the new ballpark.

Fans can take a virtual tour of the ballpark, getting to see what the view from the future seats will look like. Two images side by side, show the same view of downtown Miami from the site – one with the Orange Bowl and the other with the ballpark under construction. “The Tradition Evolves” reads a sign over the images.

The Marlins are scheduling appointments with their 5,000 season ticket holders to visit the center and choose full season ticket plans in the new stadium. The team is not yet making partial and mini-plans available, but has promised to work with fans looking for smaller plans by pairing them with other fans seeking similar packages, said Sean Flynn, Marlins vice president of marketing.

The Marlins announced Wednesday they'd crossed another hurdle in the ongoing construction of their new ballpark on the former site of the Orange Bowl in Little Havana: the first piece of structural steel to support the roof has been put in place. Weighing 24,000 pounds, the beam is the first of 13 that will make up the fixed steel roof structure on the ballpark's west side. It is scheduled to be completed in July.

Claude Delorme, the team's executive vice president of ballpark development, said in a statement the venue is more than 34 percent complete and that much of the next 13 months will be focused on the roof.

The full fixed canopy for the roof -- including the east, south and north sides - is scheduled to be completed in January.

Meanwhile, still missing the out-of-town scoreboard at Sun Life Stadium? The new ballpark will offer out-of-town scores and much more under a contract announced this week with scoreboard giant, Daktronics Inc.

The contract also includes video display board, digital ribbon boards, pitchers stats and ticket window displays. Installation is scheduled to begin in fall 2011.

“With their broad product line, control system with superior data integration capabilities, and their experience working new construction projects, Daktronics was clearly the best choice," Delorme said in a statement. "I know Marlins fans will absolutely love the new ballpark. The digital display technology will be a huge part of the game day presentation.”

The displays include a custom-shaped display board that's 101 feet wide at the top and 51 feet tall. There will be six ribbon boards in the seating bowl and at the ballpark's gates.

In honor of the Florida Marlins’ home opener at Sun Life Stadium this evening -- tidbits of team business news:

The team has installed a new robotic webcam at the ballpark construction site so you can watch the progress from inside the ballpark. The webcam is mounted on the south roof track so you get panoramic views and images of construction inside the bowl, rather than just from outside the project, which the webcam mounted across Northwest 7th Street at Robert King High Towers affords. Images from both webcams can be found at marlins.com.

The construction appears to be moving along so rapidly that it seems as if the venue could be open as soon as next year. But we’re told it’s the roof construction that takes months and that’s why the team is targeting an April 2012 opening.

The team’s value is certain to rise – along with its revenue streams – when the new ballpark opens. According to Forbes' annual Major League Baseball team valuations, the Marlins are already more valuable than they were a year ago. In fact, Forbes says the value of the Marlins increased more than any other MLB team. The team ranked 27th – up from 30th last year – and saw its value increase 15 percent to $317 million, the magazine says. Marlins President David Samson once again dismissed Forbes' numbers, because he says the magazine doesn’t have access to the team’s books. Read Samson’s comments in my colleague Juan C. Rodriguez’s story here.

Forbes said the New York Yankees were the most valuable team at $1.6 billion, followed by the Boston Red Sox at $870 million and New York Mets at $858 million. Find the complete list at forbes.com/mlb.

Under construction since July, the Florida Marlins’ ballpark is actually beginning to look like a stadium.

On a media hard-hat tour of the site today (see video below), we not only could make out the seating bowl, but we got to walk from the ground level up to the upper deck, which will be known as the Vista Level, on the stadium’s west side for a spectacular view of downtown Miami. You can see the downtown skyline and even make out the Adrienne Arsht (performing arts) Center to the east.

To the west you can watch planes heading to Miami International Airport and overlook the west side plaza, which is going to be the length of three football fields and serve as a gathering place for fans on game days and the community on non-game days. When the retractable roof is open, it will be parked above the plaza.

Sid Perkins, the project’s construction manager who works for the Hunt/Moss venture building the ballpark, was again our tour guide. He wore his signature cowboy-shaped hard hat, but this time there were Marlins stickers all over it, including across the Smith & Wesson logo. And yes, he carried a cigar.

Perkins says the project is between 25 percent and 30 percent complete and has about 350 workers on site, which will rise to about 500 in the next month. He says construction is moving smoothly and the ballpark should be ready for baseball in 2012.

Every corner of the site seems to be humming with activity – storm sewers and water lines are going in, as are pipes for the first bathrooms. Roof beams that will support the track for the retractable roof have gone up on both the north and south sides of the stadium.

“That beam has been cast on the ground and pulled into place four or five days ago,” Perkins said pointing at one section of beam, which he says weighs 3.5 million pounds.

Perkins showed off what will be the stadium’s seven levels: the Field level; the Administrative level, which will include team offices; the Promenade level or the main concourse, which will be 360 degrees – meaning fans can walk all the way around it; the Founders level, encompassing 14 exclusive Founders suites containing 22 seats each; the Club level; Media level; and Vista Level – or the upper deck.

One of the main things Marlins Senior Vice President, Stadium Development Claude Delorme stressed during the tour was the cozy intimacy of the ballpark. For example, the Vista Level is 93 feet high – offering a panoramic view of downtown. The top of the upper deck will reach about 125 feet, which Delorme says is shorter than many ballparks, which reach 150 feet to 160 feet.

Delorme said 21,600 of the ballpark’s 37,000 seats will be on the Promenade or main concourse level. “We really wanted to make sure the majority of our fans were on the main level,” he said.

Additionally, he said, the seat closest to home plate will be just 47.5 feet away – rather than the typical 55 feet in most stadiums. “We were able to get an exemption from MLB to be at 47.5, [which] again, makes it much more intimate.”

Delorme said contracts worth about $300 million or about 80 percent of the value of the construction have been awarded, including bid packages for concrete, steel, the scoreboard and seating. He said work is to begin on the two parking garages on the stadium’s north side in May with the two on the south side to begin in October or November.

The Florida Marlins’ new ballpark hit another milestone last week, when the first of the beams for the track for the retractable roof were installed. Each one takes about 10 hours to put in place. Installation will continue through this month and next.

During a luncheon with the media on Tuesday to kick off the 2010 season, Marlins President David Samson said the venue’s construction is 22 percent complete. He said he has daily meetings about construction and planning for the ballpark and visits the site two to three times a week for meetings and to conduct tours. He expects to be visiting the site daily by summer.

Samson said a marketing center for selling suites, club and premium seats is expected to open at the site in April or early May.

He said talks to secure a corporate naming rights partner for the new ballpark are ongoing and he hopes to reach a deal “as soon as possible, but in no case later than Opening Day of ’11, but it could be sooner.”

Meanwhile, at the team’s current home, Sun Life Stadium, Samson said he’s meeting with Dolphins officials to hammer out a lease for the 2011 season since the team’s current lease ends after the 2010 season. He said he is not optimistic the team’s current terms will improve.

“Of course we want to do better because doing better would mean more revenue which would mean more payroll,” Samson said. “I’m not holding out hope that better is an option, I’m actually trying to protect against worse.”

Samson predicts "a tad" more season ticket holders in 2010 than the 5,000 the team had in 2009. He said he thought more people would see an urgency to buying tickets to secure seats in the new ballpark, scheduled to open in 2012.

“The response has been, ‘well, listen, I know I’m going to get in the area I want, so there’s no rush’,” Samson said. “What I’m telling them is ‘listen, some of these areas are going to be sold out before you have a chance.’ So for example, I’ve had people who want to buy the front row in our new batter’s box we haven’t announced what the name is but it’s coming. The front row is sold out, it’s done. Front row behind the dugout, those areas are sold out.

“If you don’t have your place in line, the seats you think you’re going to get aren’t going to be available. I think the urgency will come. There was a far greater, like with the Twins, a far greater increase the year before [the new ballpark opened] than two years before. So I think we’re still a year away from the big bump," Samson said. "I still expect more fans this year, we have a good team that’s worth supporting, we have a ballpark that’s coming up, there is no more excuse, other than no roof and no air conditioning."

Florida Marlins owner and art dealer Jeffrey Loria has promised his team’s new ballpark will be a work of art and unlike any other baseball stadium. That’s why he’s focused on creating a modernist structure of sleek white stucco, silver metal and glass.

On Tuesday, Miami-Dade County’s Art in Public Places Trust continued Loria’s theme, approving proposals for $5.3 million in public art projects planned for the ballpark, including a playful, dynamic home run celebration feature, budgeted at $2.5 million, by renowned multimedia pop artist Red Grooms. Grooms' work was selected from several entries after a series of meetings.

It’s still conceptual and difficult to describe, but it’s something like an arcade game decorated with pelicans and seagulls, blue sky and clouds with a series of marlins that will actually jump after a Marlins player hits a home run. (See picture at left) Grooms is known for large scale works of urban-scapes and buildings.

Grooms, who was born in Nashville, said he drew on his memories of visiting Daytona as a teenager. He remembered seeing the ocean for the first time, the pelicans and seagulls, he said.

“All that stuck with me,” said Grooms, 72. That’s how he decided “to incorporate the great natural beauty of Florida and wildlife” into his proposal. “I am featuring beautiful clouds and waves.”

Grooms described the home run feature, which he learned of from Loria, as “a pretty unusual project. It’s like making up a kind of new event or game or something.”

Marlins President David Samson said Loria was insistent the home run feature be a work of art.

"It's very important to Jeffrey that our ballpark be the museum of baseball," Samson said. "The home run feature is the perfect opportunity to differentiate Miami from the other ballparks. No one will be able to look at that and say 'is that art or is that baseball?' It's both, it's art in a baseball ballpark."

Initially the project was expected to have a feature rise from a pool of real water, but county officials liked the idea of using Grooms-designed water instead. The key to the work is part of it will be visible even if a game isn’t going on, but it will spring to life once a Marlin hits a home run.

This video gives a sense of the type of celebration Grooms has in mind, though it is likely to change before the final work is completed:

Meanwhile, the trust also approved another $2.7 million in projects for the ballpark:

A series of colorful tiled pathways by Carlos Cruz-Diez that will be located in the ballpark’s west side plaza entrance (see image at left of his work at the airport in Caracas), and two projects by Daniel Arsham and Snarkitecture. One of Arsham’s works is lighting for the ballpark’s roof columns.

The other, called a commemorative marker, will honor the history of the old Orange Bowl. It will be a series of giant concrete letters that spell out “Miami Orange Bowl” just like the old stadium’s original sign. The sculpture will represent the letters as if they fell off the Orange Bowl, and landed on the ballpark’s east plaza in different combinations spelling out other words, including “WON” and “GAME.” The letters will be the size and look of the ones that graced the Orange Bowl, but will be concrete and situated so fans can touch and sit on them.

“They have become one with the site and people can interact with them in whatever way they are comfortable, in terms of spurring memories of their relationship with the Orange Bowl and with events they’ve been to at that site,” Samson said. “They’ll be able to see the letters as part of the landscape, be able to come in actual contact with them … it’s sort of a common psychological thing when you can touch something it can spur a memory or smell something.”

You may disagree with the amount of public funding that’s been committed to it or its location at the former site of the Orange Bowl, but the Florida Marlins’ ballpark is actually being built. Construction is thoroughly underway.

So much so that the team was happy to show off the ongoing construction during a hardhat media tour this morning. Check out a photo gallery here. Sid Perkins, the project’s construction manager who works for the Hunt/Moss joint venture that his building the venue, was our tour guide. He wore a black Marlins polo shirt, a cowboy-shaped hardhat with a Smith & Wesson logo, and carried a cigar.

We had to wear hardhats, too, (although not cowboy-shaped), some of which had been used by Miami-Dade County Commissioners during the ceremonial ground-breaking on July 18. I got Bruno Barriero’s; Miami Herald Marlins beat writer Clark Spencer’s was Sally Heyman's…(insert joke here…)

Continue reading "Marlins Stadium Update No. 900,000 square feet" »

Luxury auto dealer Norman Braman has struck out again.The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed on Wednesday the lower court’s ruling in Braman’s suit targeting the financing for the Florida Marlins' new ballpark and other Miami projects.

That means the appeals court agreed with the Miami-Dade Circuit court, which last year ruled against Braman. Braman’s attorneys argued, among other things, the public should have been allowed to vote on the use of public tax dollars for the venue for a private baseball team.

“We’re evaluating the decision and our options,” Braman said Wednesday afternoon.

The Marlins are continuing construction of the $515 million ballpark, which began in July on 928,000 square feet at the former site of the Orange Bowl. The team declined to comment on the appeals court ruling.

Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami were also named in Braman’s suit.

“Incredible progress is being made at the site of the new Miami Marlins ballpark,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez said in a statement. “Jobs are being created and the Little Havana neighborhood is alive with new activity. Today’s ruling ensures that we will continue to move forward in a positive direction, creating opportunities for businesses, residents, and visitors.”

The ballpark is scheduled to open in 2012.

The Florida Marlins took another giant step in their ballpark construction Friday afternoon, conducting the first “vertical concrete pour” for the first of the 12 super columns that will support the venue’s retractable roof.

The first 16 feet of the concrete was poured into the 40-foot tall rebar cage installed last week for the columns. Among those in attendance: Marlins President David Samson, General Manager Mike Hill and former manager Jack McKeon. Check out photos by the Marlins’ Robert Vigon.

Ballpark construction facts: the first elliptical-shaped column will be 8 feet by 15 feet and 130 feet tall. The columns will support the 8,300-ton roof structure, which will include three panels supported by a two-track system on the north and south sides of the ballpark. The column poured Friday is part of the north track.

Just back from vacation. What’d I miss?

Marlins Stadium Update No. Third District Court of Appeals: Lawyers for auto dealer Norman Braman appeared at an appeal hearing last week for the case targeting financing for the Marlins ballpark that Braman lost last summer at the circuit court level. Don’t expect a ruling anytime soon. Meanwhile, work continues on the ballpark, including the first “vertical pour” for the first of 12 super columns is scheduled Friday afternoon at the former site of the Orange Bowl.

Land Shark Stadium spiced up: The stadium’s helixes, gates and security gates got the signature colorful paint styling of neo pop artist Romero Britto, who was joined by South Florida children on Sunday for a painting party.

The Marlins are keeping a part of their history frozen in time in the foundation of the new ballpark. The team buried a metal case full of mementos from the team's inaugural season in 1993, its two World Series championships in 1997 and 2003, and this season.

The case was buried Wednesday inside a wooden support, surrounded with concrete that will serve as part of one of the 12 column supports for the roof structure of the 37,000-seat ballpark at the former site of the Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The team is referring to it as building "their foundation on two World Series Championships." (See photos courtesy of the Marlins' Robert Vigon).

It began to pour with rain as the case was being buried -- perhaps a spot of good luck for the franchise that has been seeking a new ballpark with a retractable roof for more than a decade.

Team officials weren't revealing specifically what's been included inside the case -- to leave some mystery for when the ballpark's structure is pulled down decades from now and the "capsule" is opened. MLB.com reports only these details about the case's contents: a DVD explaining what's inside and why; a newspaper from Wednesday, and items from 1993, and the 1997, 2003 and 2009 seasons.

What do you think should have been included?

The Florida Marlins entered a significant chapter in construction of their new ballpark this morning, when the concrete was poured for the first of 12 super columns that will support the venue’s roof. (Photos courtesy of the Marlins by Robert Vigon).

The pour was the first of a total 450 foundation pours for the $515 million, 37,000-seat ballpark project. According to a release form the team, the concrete was poured over an 8-foot deep, 40 foot by 40 foot hole. About 250 cubic yards was to be poured this morning out of a total 60,000 cubic yards for the project.

“Starting the first of 12 foundation pours means that the super columns that support the retractable roof will be erected by this fall,” Claude Delorme, Marlins senior vice president of ballpark development, said in a statement.

Concrete company, Colasanti Specialty Services Inc., is leading the foundation work.

Meanwhile, the team has awarded the contract for construction of the retractable roof to Structal-Heavy Steel Construction, a business unit of Canam Group. The company has worked on dozens of North American sports venues, including BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise and AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami.

The team officially broke ground July 18 for the ballpark scheduled to open in 2012.

Former Marlins and current Chicago Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper did the honors Sunday. Boog Sciambi and Don Sutton have done it, too. Former Marlins manager Jack McKeon was the first one to do it. It’s also been done by The Village People (see photo by the Marlins' Robert Vigon) and longtime fan Bob Ramer.

IT is the nightly unveiling of the number of regular season home games left until Opening Day of the Marlins' new ballpark, expected in 2012. There’s a Game Countdown board in left field at Land Shark Stadium. The number is pulled after the fifth inning of home games once the games become official. The number is currently 188.

The Marlins are calling on celebrities and longtime fans to help with the new in-game ritual, which started after the team held its official ceremonial ground-breaking for the $515 million ballpark at the former site of the Orange Bowl on July 18.

There are clocks around the Marlins offices at Land Shark Stadium that count down the days until April 1, 2012. That's when the team's new ballpark is expected to open.

Saturday was a significant day. Less than 12 hours after the team finished an extra inning game against the Philadelphia Phillies that stretched into Saturday morning after a 78-minute rain delay, team executives and players, and representatives of Major League Baseball, Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami gathered on a sun-scorched spot in Little Havana where the Orange Bowl once stood. They were joined by some 5,000 fans, many decked out in Marlins gear, to celebrate the beginning of construction of the team’s looong sought ballpark.

Work at the site officially started July 1, but when something takes this long to get approved, there’s cause for celebration. In fact, with the sun beating down, the late-ish start to the program, and numerous speeches -- many in both English and Spanish -- there were moments when it felt like it might take as long to hold the ground-breaking as it did to get to this day. But by the end of the event, which started at 10 a.m. and didn’t end for another two and a half hours, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and President David Samson, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, County Commission Chairman Dennis Moss, City Commissioner Joe Sanchez, Gov. Charlie Crist (via video), representatives of the architect (Populous – formerly HOK Sport), and the construction manager (Hunt-Moss), and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig had all waxed about the new ballpark with its roof to prevent rain delays and air conditioning for sweltering days like today.

Marlins inaugural pitcher-catcher battery Charlie Hough and Benito Santiago did first pitch honors, the organist played Take Me Out to the Ballgame, videos showed Marlins highlights, including the two World Series championships, and what the new ballpark is to look like.

The dignitaries then donned hardhats and wielded shovels with handles fashioned like baseball bats and dug the dirt at the spot in the ceremonial diamond where home plate will be. They took dozens and dozens of photographs. And then they finally allowed fans, who waited patiently as they melted in the heat, to get a turn shoveling some dirt at home plate and getting a snapshot.

Among the attendees: eight county commissioners, at least two city commissioners (ballpark opponents city commissioners Marc Sarnoff’s and Tomas Regalado’s names were announced and the crowd booed), Manager Fredi Gonzalez, President of Baseball Operations Larry Beinfest, General Manager Mike Hill, Senior VP of Stadium Development Claude Delorme, former manager Jack McKeon, Special Assistants Tony Perez and Andre Dawson, Mr. Marlin Jeff Conine, and current players including Hanley Ramirez, Ricky Nolasco, Matt Lindstrom, Dan Meyer, Brian Sanchez, Chris Coghlan. University of Miami President Donna Shalala was also in the crowd.

Loria couldn’t have seemed happier, even delighting the crowd with a message in Spanish. He spoke about the future, talking about the ballpark’s clean lines, fan comforts, including “great” food, and the roof that will finally bring certainty that games will be played and won’t be delayed.

(Is it ominous or poetic that Saturday night's game was rained out?)

But Loria also didn’t neglect the past.

He spoke of the University of Miami Hurricanes’ many years at the Orange Bowl, including winning its first of five national championships in 1983. He talked of the Dolphins' 1972 undefeated season.

“We honor both of these teams, we remember their achievements,” Loria said. “We vow the ghosts of glorious past victories will be with us, when we take the field every single night.”

Alvarez echoed Loria: “This spot in little Havana is full of memories. We have watched the Miami Dolphins complete the NFL’s only undefeated season from this land right here in the Orange Bowl. We grew up watching the Miami Hurricanes, win five national titles on this land. As far as I’m concerned this is sacred ground in athletics.

“Now it’s the Miami Marlins’ turf," he said. "I don’t know about all of you. I think I can guess, but I’m ready to see a player such as Hanley Ramirez hit a home run with downtown Miami as a backdrop.”

For some it was part campaign opportunity: Crist, who is running for U.S. Senate, gave a videotaped message. Sanchez, who is running for mayor of Miami, tried to make it look like he wasn’t campaigning. “I am very proud to have played a very small part of this great success,” Sanchez said. “And I speak from the heart, when I tell you when our leaders focus on what’s right for the next generation, and not the next election, that is what makes great cities in America.”

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig told fans that all the controversy that surrounded getting the ballpark deal will disappear once the 37,000-seat, $515 million venue opens, expected in 2012. When he was through, fans shouted “All-Star Game, All-Star Game.”

Selig said the new ballpark would be given “primary consideration,” but he wasn’t ready to commit how soon that might happen. He was also clearly overwhelmed by the heat – “Where I was this morning, it was 55 degrees,” he said.

Samson meanwhile, said the team will be working on new merchandise and branding and even uniforms for the team’s name change to Miami Marlins, when it moves into the new ballpark in 2012.

“New uniforms, we’re relocating,” Samson said. “We’re going to embrace our current fan base and welcome a new fan base, because it’s what we need to have happen.”

Samson also mentioned some of the amenities that will be included in the new ballpark, in part because of fan suggestions, including game radio broadcasts pumped into restrooms during games, a smaller secondary video board down the left field line for fans who don’t have a good view of the main centerfield scoreboard. He said fans also wanted to be able to see into the bullpens during games, so the left field swimming pool area will have views into the home bullpen and there will be a group seating area in right field with a view into the visitor’s bullpen. Yes, that means the dugouts will be switched with the Marlins’ on the third base side, rather than the first base side, as it is now at Land Shark Stadium.

Watch the video, from Populous, that was shown at the ground-breaking, showing details of the ballpark:
 

At the same time out of work construction workers swarmed the grounds where the Orange Bowl once stood for a shot at a job on the Marlins’ $515 million ballpark, critics were gasping over the $2.4 billion it is expected to cost to pay off the construction bonds for the project.

Miami-Dade County officially released the financing costs for the bonds late this afternoon, but the Miami Herald had already published the numbers. The $2.4 billion is the cost over 40 years to pay off $409 million in bonds, most of which will go to the ballpark.

There’s been no shortage of criticism of the numbers, including by our own Mike Mayo, especially since County Manager George Burgess told commissioners last week he didn’t know the final costs, as he was asking commissioners to approve increasing the interest rate on a portion of the bonds. The financing schedule takes into account the higher than anticipated interest rate and backloads higher debt service payments to ensure the county has collected enough tourist tax dollars to cover the payments.

In his memo with the financing schedule, Burgess stressed the county is working hard to avoid dipping into the general fund, which has been pledged as a secondary funding source, should tourist tax dollars fall short.

“The bottom line is that the transaction was structured within the constrained tourist tax revenue streams in a way that will significantly minimize any exposure to the secondary pledge of the bonds,” Burgess wrote.

There’s also the possibility the bonds can be refinanced when credit markets improve.

Put simply: there’s no question the project relies on a huge sum of public dollars. County officials call them tourist tax dollars, which have a restricted use. That’s true, but they are still public dollars.

But don’t forget that when you buy a house, you pay a lot more than the asking price over the life of your mortgage. For example, if you bought a $200,000 home with 6 percent interest, you’d end up paying $431,626 over 30 years – or more than double the sale price.

The bonds for the stadium construction, which were mainly sold to institutions, are scheduled to close July 14. The team has scheduled an official ballpark ground-breaking at 10 a.m. July 18.

Project: Marlins new ballpark
Director: Jeffrey Loria
Dir. Of Photog: David Samson
Date: July 1, 2009
Scene: 1; Take 1 (aka 7 billion)

Work finally began at the site of the new Marlins ballpark in Little Havana today. Workers began moving the dirt, grading the site where the Orange Bowl once stood. Marlins President David Samson called it essentially flattening the ground. (See photo by the Marlins' Robert Vigon below).

Workers arrived at the site at 7 a.m., just hours after Miami-Dade County Commissioners took the final votes (9-3) needed to ensure the sale of the bonds to pay for construction so the project could move forward. That almost didn’t happen. The deal was almost derailed again late Tuesday, when County Manager George Burgess told commissioners the county had fallen about $6.2 million short in its effort to sell the bonds.

Neither the county nor the city would agree to put any more money into the deal to build a $515 million, retractable roof stadium. The Marlins said they’d cover the gap, but some commissioners worried about the county’s liability, changing the deal again and why, if the team was willing to give more in the final hour, the county hadn’t extracted more from the team in the deal.

Team and county officials worked into Wednesday morning to craft changes to the deal that would incorporate the team’s agreement to cover the gap and allow the county to sell some of the bonds at a higher interest rate than anticipated. The commission voted at 1:10 a.m. The changes are to go to the city of Miami or approval, but the county ensured the project could still go forward, even if the city rejects them.

"If last night had not worked out and there had been a termination, that would have been the end of baseball in South Florida,” Samson said. “What we decided as a team was that it was enough. It was time to start.”

Unless the bond sales do not close – something Samson doesn’t anticipate – the project is to move forward with an official, ceremonial ground-breaking scheduled on July 18. Samson said “There are no hurdles.”

Burgess said the bonds were sold Wednesday afternoon with a closing date later this month.

The Marlins have been trying for years to secure financing to build a new ballpark with a roof so they can protect fans from heat and rain and control their own revenue. At Land Shark Stadium, the team pays rent and receives only percentages of revenue from concessions, parking and advertising signage.

Burgess said he was feeling “very good” about the state of the project.

“Projects like this that are this large and complex, I don’t know that I’ve ever encountered one of these kinds of game changers that can have an impact and found it to be easy,” Burgess said. “The North Terminal [of the airport] has not been easy, but it has an enormously significant effect. In the long run it helps define a community … We’re going to look back and this [ballpark] is going to be a wonderful addition to this community.”

Miami-Dade County fell short by $6.2 million in its effort to sell bonds for a new Marlins ballpark Tuesday, but site preparation work is expected to begin Wednesday morning at the former location of the Orange Bowl.

Although the shortfall in the bond sale threw the ballpark deal into disarray for several hours Tuesday night and into early Wednesday, the deal appeared to be back on track, after the Marlins agreed to fill the gap should the dollars be needed to complete the 37,000-seat retractable roof ballpark.

The commission debated from about 7 to 9 p.m. and then what was meant to be a 45-minute break stretched on for three and a half hours. The commission finally returned at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday and voted 9-3 for changes that will allow the deal to move forward. Commissioners approved three items, including agreeing to a higher interest rate on the some of the bonds and adjusting the county's commitment to the project to $341 million down from $347 million.

Earlier in the evening, County Manager George Burgess told commissioners the county had planned to sell $306 million in bonds, but fell short by about $6.2 million and a portion of the bonds were set at a higher interest rate than the county had expected. That means the county’s commitment to payments will remain the same, but the gap needed filling. Neither the county, nor city were willing to step up, Burgess said.

“At end of the day, we’re extraordinarily close,” Burgess told commissioners. “We’ve had conversations with the team. My ask of them was, ‘If we’re short, are you prepared to be able to cover the difference’?”

Marlins President David Samson insisted the team would -- and the public would not be asked to put more into the deal.

“We made a commitment in March," Samson said. "That commitment was there would be a certain amount of money the public would be committing and not one dollar more.”

Worried construction workers would not be able to begin working, Samson said the team would cover any additional costs.

“If this building costs $515 million, the team will put in what’s required,” Samson said. “If it costs $512 million that is what the team will do.”

You can see equipment on the site via the team’s ballpark webcam. A formal ground-breaking is scheduled on July 18.

Not to get too technical here, but while the bonds backed by the professional sports franchise facilities tax portion of the hotel tax were sold at a lower interest rate than anticipated, those backed by the Convention Development portion of the hotel tax were set at a higher rate. The “blended rate” of the two taxes fell within the county’s 7.5 percent cap, but the commission needed to sign off on the higher cap of 8.2 percent for the CDT-backed bonds.

Some commissioners worried about encumbering more taxpayer dollars, tapping into the county’s general fund if hotel dollars fall short during the life of the deal, and continuing to adjust a deal that has dogged them for years, but may finally result in a ground-breaking in a few weeks.

Commissioner Sally Heyman wanted Samson to agree to cover the $6 million shortfall rather than agreeing to cover any additional costs. Commissioner Katy Sorenson worried the county didn’t bargain hard enough while the deal was being negotiated.

“We can see clearly the Marlins have more to give and clearly have had more to give all along and it’s an example of why we can see this isn’t such a great deal for our constituents,” Sorenson said.

It’s been a busy week of technical, banking and court issues related to the Marlins ballpark plan, but as of this afternoon, the ballpark project appears to be back on track.

At least in the eyes of Miami-Dade County officials, who made progress on two fronts today:

County commissioners signed off on some technical changes to the ballpark plan, including delaying the termination date for the ballpark deal until July 15, instead of July 1, with the expectation the bond sale will close by July 17. (Miami City Commissioners took similar action Thursday). And Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Lawrence Schwartz issued an opinion Friday afternoon, denying an injunction to prevent the sale of the bonds.

Miami activists Graciela Solares and Elvis Cruz filed the motion for the injunction against the county and city of Miami on Monday, to stop the planned sale of the bonds, which was scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday of this week. In February, Solares and Cruz filed suit aiming to halt the $515 million ballpark plan because they said it was negotiated behind closed doors in violation of the state’s public records laws.

As a result of Monday’s filing, Miami-Dade County officials chose to delay selling the bonds until June 29 and 30. The decision was made as a precaution, not because county officials believe the suit has merit. In fact, County Manager George Burgess called the suit “extremely frivolous” during a meeting of county commissioners Friday morning.

Solares and Cruz quickly filed notice they are appealing Schwartz’s decision.

But as of now, county officials intend to proceed with the bond sale and the Marlins are expecting work to begin at the former site of the Orange Bowl on July 1, with a ceremonial ground breaking for the 37,000-seat retractable roof ballpark scheduled on July 18.

Despite the roadblocks and technical changes, county officials say they are committed to the project.

“Our confidence in the project and its underlying funding plan has not changed,” Burgess wrote in a memo to commissioners in advance of Friday morning’s meeting.

The team, city and county set a termination date for the ballpark deal so that any side could pull out of the deal before bonds had been sold. County officials say they should know as of June 30 whether the bonds can be sold, with a closing expected by July 17.

“If we terminate, there will not be a ground breaking on the 18th," Burgess told commissioners Friday. “If we close between the 14th and 17th, then we have the ground breaking.”

UPDATED
The Marlins have scheduled their ceremonial ground-breaking for Saturday, July 18 and the public’s invited.

That’s assuming, of course, that financing for the new ballpark can be secured, but officials are optimistic given the ratings the bonds received so far from the rating agencies last month.

Miami-Dade County officials were to begin selling the bonds Tuesday and Wednesday, but those dates have since been moved to June 17 and 18. Marlins President David Samson says the delay isn't cause for alarm.

"The ratings were positive," Samson said. "We’re confident there will be individual and institutional buyers for these bonds."

Assuming the bonds are sold, grading and site preparation are to begin July 1 at the former site of the Orange Bowl. Then the ceremonial ground-breaking will be held on July 18, complete with team, county, city and Major League Baseball officials, and, of course, those fancy shovels. Fans are invited, too.

"It’s going to be, and we try not to over use the word, but a historic day," Samson said Monday afternoon before the Marlins-San Francisco Giants game at Land Shark Stadium, where rain was threatening once again. "It’s a day we’ve all been working toward, seven years personally, and our organization for over 10 years."

Samson said team officials along with representatives of their architect and construction manager have been putting in long hours -- as much as 18 a day -- to prepare for the ballpark. He said on Monday, for example, the ballpark team worked on finalizing seat counts, including ensuring that no sections have rows with only one seat: "We don’t know of many people who would buy a season ticket of one," he said.

The team examined entrances and exits and the time it takes to get from section openings, known as vomitories, to seats, and the sightlines for fans when people are walking to and from vomitories. Then there is permitting for the 70 or so bid packages for construction; and for the 16 trailers that will be on-site during construction. The trailers have to be placed carefully to allow for the movement of trucks and cranes at the location, Samson said.

There was also a discussion, Samson said, of the actual ground-breaking event -- how to get power to the site and what kind of shovels to order. And yes, Samson said he feels enormous pressure.

"We cannot have a delay," Samson said. "We will not go over budget."

Miami-Dade County officials plan early next month to begin the sale of bonds backed by tourist tax dollars to pay for construction of the Marlins' new ballpark, after getting results from bond rating agencies.

According to a memo County Manager George Burgess sent county commissioners today, county officials got word late last week that the agencies -- Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings –- “reaffirm the relative quality of investing in Miami-Dade County and the strength of its credit.” A news release issued by the county late today, said the agencies had “given the County solid marks, determining that our tourism sector is sound in the long run and bonds backed by tourist dollars are good investments.”

County officials had visited the agencies in late April, to make their case that tourist taxes are a strong source to repay the bonds needed to pay for the $515 million ballpark. The county’s case came in the midst of the recession, which has seen local hotel bed tax dollars plummet. County officials and ballpark supporters argue hotel taxes fluctuate and won’t always be in decline during the 40-year life of the ballpark agreement.

The agencies, Burgess’ memo says, are expected to announce their findings in their own press releases. The county’s own up-beat press release acknowledges that not all of the ratings have been determined.

I’m the first to admit this is not my area of expertise, but here’s part of what the statement says:

Standard and Poor’s assigned an “A+” to the Professional Sports Franchise Tax (PST) credit, affirmed the Convention Development Tax (CDT) credit an “A” and affirmed the County’s general obligation rating at “AA-”. Moody’s assigned an “A2” to the PST credit. A rating for the CDT financing is expected soon. Fitch Rating’s assigned an “A” with a stable outlook to both the PST credit and CDT credit. In addition, Fitch Rating’s reaffirmed the general obligation as well as the public service tax bond rating an “AA-”.

Both Burgess and County Mayor Carlos Alvarez complimented the county’s ratings results.

“We are pleased with the outcome,” Alvarez said in a statement. “The ratings are solid and demonstrate the County’s financial strength. An investment in Miami-Dade County is a quality investment.”

“The favorable ratings reinforce our commitment to acting responsibly and conservatively every step of the way as we push forward with a Marlins stadium paid for by tourist tax dollars,” Burgess said.

More later…

Earlier this month, the Marlins installed flag poles on the dirt where the Orange Bowl used to stand to signify the location of the baseball diamond in the team’s new ballpark.

Three flags representing the Marlins, Miami-Dade County and city of Miami, are at home plate. First base features a flag for architect Populous (formerly HOK Sport); second base has the U.S. flag; and third base has a flag for Hunt/Moss – the joint venture construction manager for the ballpark.

Now, you cannot only get a glimpse of the flags, but you can watch the dirt at the location. Literally. The team has installed a webcam that will provide updated images from the site every 15 minutes. You can access the camera at the team's Web site. One has to hope this will become more exciting once ground is actually broken – expected sometime in July.

“This exciting, state-of-the-art technology allows us to share the historic construction of our new home with Marlins fans everywhere,” Marlins Senior Vice President of Ballpark Development Claude Delorme said in a statement. “Everyone can now follow the increased activity on the site as groundbreaking quickly approaches.”

For now, you can zoom in to see where the flags are placed and see the downtown Miami skyline, which is to be the view beyond the outfield in the $515 million, 37,000-seat, retractable-roof venue. You can even check out photos from the previous days by hour, but other than getting lighter or darker, there isn’t much that could be called activity yet. Update: no, it's not downtown - it's Coral Gables.

The ballpark is to have a southeast orientation, according to a release from the team, and be situated on land bordered by Northwest 6th Street on the north, Northwest 4th Street on the south, Northwest 16th Avenue to the west, and Northwest 14th Avenue to the east.

After getting an abbreviated overview of the architectural and transportation plans and with little discussion, Miami City Commissioners unanimously approved this afternoon the permit needed to begin construction of the Marlins’ ballpark in Little Havana. That’s right... a 5-0 vote for the Major Use Special Permit for the $515 million venue.

Earl Santee of Populous (formerly HOK Sport), Rolando Llanes of Civica and transportation consultant Cathy Sweetapple gave commissioners a sense of how the proposed ballpark will fit into the community, that it will be surrounded by parking, retail and as many as 96 residential units, and what kind of traffic it will bring. Santee spoke of how the ballpark will serve as a centerpiece for the Little Havana community and how it will connect the neighborhood. Its open views will allow people in the area to see into the venue at all times and the west plaza will serve as a public gathering place all year long.

“These projects are special and here in this city, this is a unique opportunity to create another special place,” Santee said. “The plan is to connect the neighborhood to a ballpark.”

Commission Chairman Joe Sanchez spoke most dramatically of wanting to ensure the ballpark includes some way to honor the history of its location at the Orange Bowl, where the Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes played and where President John F. Kennedy addressed Cuban refugees after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1962.

“There needs to be a history component,” Sanchez said. “Every great stadium whether it’s for football, baseball or hockey has a historic element.”

Sanchez also stressed his interest in ensuring the ballpark stands as an icon that will be seen from nearby roadways.

“This will be one of the best stadiums designed in this great nation of ours,” said Sanchez, who is running for the mayor of Miami. “This is it … After this, it’s the construction.”

No word yet on when the team plans to host a formal unveiling of ballpark renderings, but it’s expected sometime next month. Ballpark construction is expected to begin in July with a planned opening in 2012.

OK, these aren't new -- they're just some of the renderings that have been included in a presentation made to the Miami Planning Advisory Board earlier this month. The board voted April 1 to recommend a Major Use Special Permit for the ballpark. That's the permit that's needed to begin construction.

The Miami City Commission is to consider the permit at its meeting on April 23.

Here's a selection of photos from the presentation by Populous (formerly HOK Sport). The first one at the top shows what the view of downtown Miami should be from inside the $515 million venue planned at the former site of the Orange Bowl.

Get a sense of the vast west plaza with its reflecting pool and plenty of room for community gatherings. See how when the roof is open it will park over the western plaza to provide shade.

The surrounding parking garages will have retail on the ground floor.

The two at the bottom this entry show how the roof will look open and closed.

Miami-Dade County Commissioners approved issuing as much as $563 million in bonds Tuesday to cover the cost of construction of the Marlins’ $515 million ballpark in Little Havana, but not before opponents got another chance to question the financing plan.

Commissioners voted 8-4 with Katy Sorenson, Carlos Gimenez, Sally Heyman and Joe Martinez voting no, just as they did for the ballpark financing plan on March 23. Opponents raised concerns about everything from the size of the bond issues being larger than authorized in the financing plan to having to tap the county’s general fund, if hotel bed taxes are not enough to cover the bond payments.

The team, city or county can still back out of the ballpark agreement by July 1.

Heyman worried about the county’s $4 million exposure if the deal is terminated by June 1 or $7 million if it’s done by July 1. She also wondered how much more the county will have to pay if its bond rating leads to a higher interest rate on the bonds.

“If the rate changes a half a percent, what is that going to cost us on a half a billion dollar series?” Heyman asked. “And then one percent?”

The commission was told the interest rates would be capped at 7.5 percent for non-taxable bonds backed by hotel bed taxes and 6.5 percent for the $50 million general obligation bond. They were also told an extra .01 percent could cost as much as $25 million more.

Martinez and Gimenez raised concerns again about the county using its general fund revenue as a secondary pledge to repay the bonds.

“If you don’t have it, you may have to go to your secondary pledge,” Martinez said. “I’m not opposed to the construction of it, I’m not sure anyone here wants to lose the Marlins, especially if yesterday’s game is an indication of a really good season.”

The Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 12-6 in their home opener at Dolphin Stadium Monday.

What concerns Martinez is the method of financing. “The economy is not what it was. Tourism has slid down quite a bit, the possibility exists,” he said.

County Manager George Burgess, who plans to go to credit agencies this month, said he believes the financing plan is responsible, but the county won’t know what kind of bond rating it will receive until it goes to the market.

“This is not an easy decision and nobody can guarantee anything,” he said.

Gimenez said, “It’s a risk I’m not willing to take. I don’t think it’s prudent for us to proceed with such a volatile funding source.”

Burgess said the team, city and county built in the July 1 termination date as a precaution. He said it was set then in order to ensure enough time for construction of the ballpark, scheduled to open in 2012.

“It allowed us the opportunity to see how the market responds, which is the essential,” Burgess said. “We won’t know until we go to market, and it gives us the opportunity to see more on bed tax performance ... We felt having that safety valve was wise.”

There are 243 home games until the Marlins’ new ballpark is scheduled to open in Little Havana in 2012. So at Monday’s home opener against the Washington Nationals at Dolphin Stadium, the team launched a new scoreboard feature: fun facts about the ballpark.

According to Marlins President David Samson there will be 243 of them – one unveiled at each home game during the next three seasons.

The first one?: The “ballpark retractable roof consists of 8,300 tons of steel, which is the exact weight of the Eiffel Tower!”

The ballpark is already part of the fabric at Dolphin Stadium. The team showed a video on the scoreboard with renderings by architecture firm Populous, the new name for architecture firm HOK Sport.

And the left field wall, which for the past five and half seasons has been covered by a giant Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida advertisement, is now back in Marlins’ hands. The tribe didn’t renew and now the team is using the wall to advertise its Super Saturday concerts; inaugural season in 1993; two World Series championships in 1997 and 2003; and projected 2012 ballpark opening. But Samson’s favorite part is the ballpark rendering and the words “Priority Seating for the New Marlins Ballpark @ Marlins.com."

“I’ve been waiting for six years to get the ballpark seating priority,” Samson said. “It’s been my dream, from the beginning. Reflecting the history was always something we’ve tried to do, this is the year we were able to do it.”

Samson said if the team received “an offer we can’t refuse,” he could see giving over advertising space, but he said the new ballpark seating reference is more valuable.

“The benefits we can derive, by having people buy tickets, priority in the new ballpark, is far greater than what we can get for an outfield wall,” he said.

Samson said the team has already created some 60 committees to consider all aspects of the new venue from naming rights to ticket prices to concession equipment storage areas to marketing.

For the first time since buying the team in 2002, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria faced an Opening Day without questions about getting ballpark financing. Loria said he’s thrilled at thinking of ways to program the new ballpark.

“It’ll be a destination. It’s going to be a beautiful piece of contemporary architecture, and there will be a lot of special things there for fans,” Loria said. “It will be a place where you know the game will be played, you won’t have any inconveniences. There will be air conditioning, so in more ways than one we’re looking at a ballpark that’s the coolest place in town.”

In the meantime, Loria hopes to keep his team competitive and to attract more fans to Dolphin Stadium.

“It may not be the ideal place, but it’s where we are,” he said. “We’re going to deal with it over the next three seasons, but at least we know the rainbow is in front of us. More than a light at the end of the tunnel, we have the rainbow, which I’m excited about. To me, to be able to watch this ballpark grow is what drives me.”

He said he wants to send a message to fans that with ballpark financing approved and ground breaking planned for this summer, the team will be in South Florida for generations.

“It’s OK for them to fall in love with your team, it’s going to be here,” he said before his Marlins opened the season with a 12-6 win over the Washington Nationals. “It’s time to make a commitment and fall in love permanently, we have a terrific baseball team.”

So, with financing approved, the Marlins ballpark project has now moved to the next stage – permitting, issuing bonds, examining and tweaking blueprints. On Wednesday, Miami’s Planning Advisory Board considered the ballpark plans for a Major Use Special Permit. That’s the permit that’s needed to get the ballpark constructed.

Since the $515 million ballpark and $94 million in parking spaces are planned for the former site of the Orange Bowl, the process is simpler than if it were planned for a site that had never housed a stadium.

Planning Advisory Board members heard from representatives of stadium architect HOK Sport (the company was renamed Populous this week, but apparently the change hasn’t yet occurred in Florida), and a transportation planner. They got an overview of how the ballpark is meant to fit into the surrounding Little Havana community, some of its unique features and key details about getting to and parking at the ballpark.

The architects said they view the ballpark as a “piece of art,” or “a sculpture” in an urban neighborhood. The ballpark will be “facing toward the city of Miami skyline to really place the building in the city of Miami,” said Greg Sherlock, HOK Sport principal. The way it’s designed, the outfield frames downtown Miami.

The roof is created in three panels that stack over the grand west plaza, a vast area with a reflecting pool that will become the focal point, not only for entry to the stadium, but also for pre- and post-game activities, and community events and gatherings.

“It’s a Kodak moment, where people want to enter the building,” Sherlock said.

Four mixed use garages with retail on the first floor are to flank the ballpark -- two on the north and two on the south. They are to feature wide – 15- to 21-foot – sidewalks alongside them. The idea is to make the ballpark pedestrian-friendly and a good fit within the neighborhood. Three surface lots each are planned on the east and west sides of the ballpark. There are also plans for residential units and a mix of landscaping with palms and shade trees.

Two Metrorail stations are within a mile of the stadium. Officials are exploring using water taxis on the Miami River as a method of reaching the ballpark.

Planning Advisory Board members raised minor concerns about ensuring enough recreational space for the public and about the type of landscaping. Board member Paul Mann questioned the financing of the deal, worrying that it puts the city’s general fund at risk.

“It makes me very uncomfortable that the negotiators on the city side did not protect the general fund,” Mann said. “We can build the stadium and hope everything works fine, but ultimately it’s the city of Miami’s general fund at stake here.”

But Mann and other board members were reminded their role was to consider the details of the ballpark’s blueprint, not the financing, which had already been debated by the city commission.

The board voted 6-1, with Mann dissenting, to recommend the permit for the ballpark’s construction.

Miami City Commissioners are to consider the permit later this month. Miami-Dad County Commissioners are to consider the documents to issue more than $300 million in bonds for ballpark construction at their meeting on Tuesday.

So, with Miami and Miami-Dade County approvals now in hand, the Marlins finally believe they’ll be able to break ground for their new ballpark perhaps as soon as July. That is if the bonds can get sold and barring any other legal or governmental obstacle.

If the ballpark does get built at the former site of the Orange Bowl in Little Havana, will you go? I’ve heard from numerous Marlins fans in Broward and Palm Beach counties that they’ll still follow the team, but they won’t travel to Little Havana. Not at all? Never?

My colleague Mike Mayo wrote a column today, expressing the sentiments of many these days: he’ll wave from his couch. This isn’t just how people are feeling about baseball, but about sports in general. I’ve written about people finding the increase in ticket prices combined with the drop in prices for HD and big screen TVs makes staying at home a more inviting option. Add in the recession and layoffs and it’s no wonder teams are freezing and reducing ticket prices and offering special promotions to get fans in the door.

Have you stopped going to sporting events? Do you miss them?

Also, I'm taking suggestions for update numbers, if you want to weigh in. It was suggested after last night's county commission vote that I start again at 1, since the project has now been approved. Today's figure is the combined proposed cost of the $515 million stadium, $94 million in parking lots and $24 million in street and sewer work. (The figures don't always have a meaning, in case you were wondering). Let me know what you think.

Ballpark supporters were all smiles after Miami-Dade County Commissioners voted 9-4 late last night to finance a $515 million ballpark and $94 million in parking lots at the former site of the Orange Bowl.

It wasn’t easy getting there – it took more than nine hours of debate among commissioners and testimony from nearly 80 members of the public. That on top of the numerous years, countless stadium plans and dozens of commission votes.

But the approval, which wasn’t assured even as recently as last week, was all but sewn up Monday, when County Commission Chairman Dennis made it clear he wouldn’t allow any alterations to the deal other than those deemed “friendly” by stadium supporter Commissioner Bruno Barreiro. Supporters clearly didn’t want any changes made that would sink the deal or require it go back for another vote to the Miami City Commission, which approved the plan in a 3-2 vote last week.

With Commissioner Javier Souto on the yes side of the ledger, supporters knew they had the deal approved. That didn’t stop opponents from proposing a number of amendments – many of which Barreiro didn’t even hesitate to reject – aimed at improving the deal for the public.

Moss had outlined the guidelines for the meeting, which also required everyone to ask questions and give answers through him, since he serves as commission chairman, leading to some giddy moments, when commissioners forgot or emphasized the words “through the chair…” before asking a question.

But even long-time stadium supporter Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz acknowledged the county didn’t get everything it needed or wanted in the deal.

“It is not a perfect deal,” Diaz said. “I see more positives than I see negatives with this deal. I will tell you straight out that it will create jobs.”

Commissioner Joe Martinez tried to put a stop to all the talk of the ballpark making Miami a “world class city.” He said it doesn’t make the city world class, it just gives residents more entertainment options.

Long-time stadium critic Katy Sorenson, who opposes public financing for a private enterprise, even offered a tongue in cheek “friendly amendment” suggesting the ballpark be named for Barreiro. Sorenson outlined a number of areas where she thought the public was being taken, including that it loses out on property tax dollars from the stadium land and with the Marlins receiving all the naming rights revenues in a new stadium, that means the team isn’t really contributing to cost of the stadium.

“Not withstanding that my great grandparents got engaged at a Cubs game in the late 1880s,” Sorenson said, “people know where I stand on this issue. I don’t think public money should be used for a private for-profit corporation.”

She added, “When you’re fundamentally opposed to something, it’s hard to propose amendments. It’s kind of like putting lipstick on … a fish.”

Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Dennis Moss has just closed the public hearing portion of the meeting.

Nearly 80 people weighed in both for and against the stadium. Just as they did at the city, members of the public framed the discussion as one of creating much-needed jobs and keeping baseball in South Florida versus spending tax dollars on a private enterprise, particularly with no guarantee there will be enough bed tax to cover the project.

The public has jammed the commission chambers and another 60 or so spectators couldn’t even fit inside and instead were moved to the county hall lobby to watch the video feed.

Debate got feisty about halfway through the public hearing, when Reginald Munnings, representing a number of community organizations, reminded commissioners the now-demolished Miami Arena was supposed to bring jobs.

“There’s nothing wrong with saving until you can find a better way to spend it,” he said. “Financial resources should not be used to bail out a private enterprise.”

Munnings walked away with representatives of the Miami Workers Center and others who began shouting “Real jobs now,” and “Shut the stadium down.”

Moss told the group to settle down and ordered the group escorted out of the commission chambers not to return.

I’m not the only one who thinks we could be at the Miami-Dade County government center for three days, given how many people are here to speak about the Marlins ballpark issue. Even County Commission Chairman Dennis Moss as he explained the guidelines for the afternoon’s meeting, said somewhat warily: “Hopefully, at some point today we’ll be able to adjourn.”

A group of at least 50 people representing union carpenters crowded outside county hall. They held up signs reading: “We are here, we are ready, we’ll work,” “Unemployed voter,” “Go Marlins, Vote Yes,” and ones in Spanish that read “Stadium equals Jobs,” and “Build the Stadium.” The group cheered loudly, singing and raising their fists in the air.

Meanwhile, members of Coalition Against Marlins Bailout, lined up in the lobby of the government center, waiting to enter the commission chambers. They are wearing shirts representing their workers and community organizations and little signs reading “No Marlins Bailout.” The coalition is concerned about the type of jobs the deal will provide and that the deal is unfair to citizens.

“Unfortunately, we’re not going to be allowed to vote on this deal,” said Michael Burnstine, coalition co-founder.

So, far 18 people have spoken with support running two to one in favor of the stadium, but there are many more people scheduled to speak.

What’s meant to be the FINAL ballpark vote looms this afternoon at the Miami-Dade County Commission. It’s sounding as if there may be the nine votes needed to pass the plan for a $515 million ballpark and $94 million in parking lots.

With the Miami City Commission’s 3-2 approval Thursday, the plan is expected to get a thorough debate at the Stephen P. Clarke Center at 1 p.m. The five ballpark agreements and accompanying elements, which include waiving competitive bidding requirements to allow stadium construction manager Hunt-Moss to also oversee the adjacent street and sewer work, will be presented to commissioners as one resolution that needs approval of nine of 13 commissioners.

It’s possible the agreements and the bid waivers could be considered individually, if commissioners want to separate them. If that occurs, here’s how the breakdown on what votes would be needed for passage:

The parking, assurance and non-relocation agreements each need a simple majority – or a total of seven votes if all 13 members are present. The construction administration agreement, which spells out the financing, has three elements that need a larger vote. The bid waiver for the infrastructure work needs nine votes and the ones that allow the Marlins Stadium Developer LLC to act as stadium developer and provide a sales tax exemption on construction materials each need a two-thirds vote of the members present. Finally, the waiver allowing Marlins Stadium Operator LLC to be the ballpark’s operator, which is included in the operating agreement, also requires a two-thirds vote of the members present.

Yes, I know, we’re in the weeds here, but that’s partly what these updates are for – so you can keep score.

Which reminds me, here’s some more clarification on the amendments the Marlins agreed to before the city vote:

+ Increased the percentage of profits Miami and Miami-Dade County would share, should the team be sold within 10 years of the ballpark agreement being forged to 70 percent in the first year; 60 percent in the second; 50 percent in the third; 30 percent in the fourth; 10 percent in the fifth; 7.5 percent in the sixth; and then 5 percent in each of the remaining four years.

+ Agreed to contribute $500,000 annually to charities that include youth and community programs, with $100,000 going to the Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade County and $25,000 to the City Heart of Our Parks Fund annually during the first seven and a half years of the deal.

+ Agreed to build or improve 39 baseball fields in the county, including two in each city commissioner’s district.

+ Amended the termination clause to allow any party to end the deal by July 1 or before the county completes the bond sale for the stadium, whichever is earlier.

Expect a long afternoon. County commissioners haven't given the stadium a thorough vetting for a year. Commissioners Carlos Gimenez and Sally Heyman have lots of concerns and are likely to vote no. Commissioner Joe Martinez also has questions. Expect to hear the stadium plan mortgages the county’s future, and relies on bed taxes the county isn’t sure will be generated and on general fund revenue as secondary pledge for bond repayment if the bed tax money runs short. Commissioners are also likely to express concern the plan gives too much to a private business and not enough back to the public.

City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who voted against the financing plan Thursday, said county commissioners should think carefully before they vote.

“I’m hoping the county commissioners take a sobering look at what the true income stream of the bed taxes are right now, it’s 22 percent down,” Sarnoff said.

After the city vote, Marlins officials likened their situation to winning Game 6 and awaiting Monday’s Game 7. Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria sounded hopeful.

“It’s a very important thing to happen, and as we look back years from now we’ll realize how good this decision was today,” he said.

After hearing from more than 70 stadium supporters and opponents and debating the project thoroughly, Miami City Commissioners voted 3-2 to finance a new ballpark for the Marlins.

The vote came a month after commissioners deadlocked 2-2 on the project when Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones was on maternity leave. Spence-Jones provided the deciding third vote, joining stadium supporters Commission Chairman Joe Sanchez and Commissioner Angel Gonzalez.

Before voting on the plan, Spence-Jones spent considerable time going over everything from the percentage of stadium construction jobs promised to Miami-Dade County residents and concerns that Overtown get its promised aid for development and improvements.

Commissioner Marc Sarnoff worried about the current 22 percent decline in bed tax dollars collections and cost overruns.

Miami Commissioner Tomas Regalado voted against the deal because he said the city was not benefiting from it.

“We should do a stadium. We should have the team play in Miami, but we should get something for the city of Miami, we don’t have enough,” Regalado said. “We have done everything, we have given away everything and been given nothing in return.”

In the month since the project stalled, the Marlins agreed to changes, including providing higher percentages of the profits, should the team be sold within 10 years. Instead of 18 percent in the first year, the team agreed to 70 percent, followed by 60 percent in the second year on down to 5 percent. The team has also agreed to contribute $500,000 a year for youth and community baseball programs and to build or improve 39 baseball fields in the county.

The deal was also changed so that it scan still be terminated either by July 1 or by the time the county completes the bond sale for the stadium, whichever is earlier.

The deal, which relies on $310 million from hotel bed tax dollars and a $50 million general obligation bond, now moves to the Miami-Dade County Commission, which is scheduled to consider it at its 1 p.m. meeting on Monday.

The city vote came in a packed commission chambers, where speakers kept lining up to be heard. Residents alternately spoke of their desire to see the stadium built so it creates needed construction jobs, and to see the project stopped because it’s a waste of tax dollars that could be spent on other tourism projects and will create only temporary jobs.

“I’m unemployed, been unemployed for the last six months. I’m living off my credit cards,” said Greg Mikenas, a carpenter from Lake Worth. “I’m not here to ask for a bailout, I’m here to ask for a job.”

Michael Burnstine, co-founder of the Coalition Against Marlins Bailout, said he enjoys going to Marlin
s games, but the ballpark agreement favors the Marlins at the expense of taxpayers.

“It’s an egregious onerous business deal,” Burnstine said.

The number of speakers has now reached 70 with a few more to go. The sentiment is on both sides of the stadium deal, although if we’re keeping score, it looks like there might be slightly more supporters, but it’s not an overwhelming majority.

Supporters are mainly speaking in support of the jobs they expect the stadium’s construction to create. They include union officials, out-of-work carpenters, and business leaders. There have been fans of the team expressing their support for the extra benefits the team brings to the community, such as its support of community programs.

One union worker quoted Shakespeare, saying “Shakespeare said the world is a comedy to those who feel but a tragedy to those who think.” He asked the commission “to feel” and vote for the stadium.

Barry Johnson of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce followed in support of the ballpark, saying he couldn’t quote Shakespeare, but slightly butchered Mick Jagger with “Sometimes you can’t get what you want, sometimes you get what you need.”

Opponents are adamant the deal is a waste of taxpayer dollars, even though they know the hotel bed tax dollars planned for the stadium can only be used for tourism-related projects. They believe there are better projects that can be funded with the money – convention center improvements, for example. They say the jobs will be only temporary, and not the kind the community needs. They worry about there being enough hotel bed tax and tying up the dollars for generations.

“Stop this foul deal,” said Denise Perry, director of the Power U Center for Social Change in Miami. “This deal is not good for our community. This group of votes does not represent my community,” she said pointing at Marlins brass, including team owner Jeffrey Loria.

Miami City Hall Is packed. Every seat is full and the crowd has spilled out of the commission chambers and almost outside the building.

The meeting has just now begun at 9:50 a.m. Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez is outlining the alterations that have been made to the $515 million ballpark deal and the agreement for $94 million in parking lots.

Among the changes: the Marlins agreed to provide higher percentages of the profits, should the team be sold within 10 years. Instead of 18 percent in the first year, the team agreed to 70 percent, followed by 60 percent in the second year on down to 5 percent.

The team has also agreed to contribute $500,000 a year for youth and community baseball programs and to build or improve 39 baseball fields in the county.

The deal was also changed so that it can still be terminated either by July 1 or by the time the county completes the bond sale for the stadium, whichever is earlier. The understanding is the deal would only be killed if something drastic happens, such as the county is unable to sell bonds for the project.

The deal also aims to ensure construction jobs for Miami-Dade County and city of Miami residents. The agreement says efforts will be made to try to include 50 percent of workers on the stadium be county residents, and 20 percent of those be from Miami.

The public hearing portion of the meeting is about to begin.

A month after the Miami City Commission deadlocked on the Marlins ballpark deal, the scene outside Miami City Hall is much livelier. Supporters and opponents are surrounding the parking lot holding up opposing signs and trying to drown each other out.

A group of roughly 25 activists and community members representing a variety of organizations, calling themselves the Coalition Against Marlins Bailout, held up signs across from city hall reading “No Marlins Bailout,” “This Deal Stinks,” and “Pork in the hot dogs, OK. Pork to the Marlins, No.”

“Unfortunately the taxpayers are on the wrong side of this deal,” said Michael Burnstine, co-founder of the coalition.

The group also includes art collector and businessman Martin Margulies.

“It’s going to put the taxpayers in hock for the next 40 years,” Margulies said.

“Real Jobs, Strong Miami,” the group yelled.

Across the parking lot next to city hall a group of about 50 union carpenters held up a large Marlins sign and shouted that they want jobs now. The group is wearing stickers from Jobs with Justice saying “Public Good from Public Money.”

“We’re just looking for jobs,” said Greg Mikenas of Lake Worth. “Right now we’d be happy with any kind of jobs. I have a newborn, I need work.”

Inside, people crammed into the small commission chambers. The Marlins have been making adjustments to their deal for a $515 million ballpark and $94 million in parking lots to sweeten it for passage. Among the changes the team has agreed to is increasing the percentage of profit the city and county would receive if the team is sold within 10 years. Instead of 18 percent in the first year, the team would provide 70 percent; followed by 60 percent in the second year; 50 percent in the third year and successively less down to 5 percent.

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria has said he does not plan to sell the team.

It’s almost 9:30 a.m. and the meeting has yet to start.

The historic compact the Marlins struck with the NAACP and Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce on Friday to ensure 15 percent of stadium construction and operation contracts go to black-owned businesses was rescinded Tuesday.

The team, NAACP and chamber made the decision to kill the compact after Miami-Dade County attorneys warned the agreement could be unconstitutional and subject the county to lawsuits. Representatives of all three organizations said they were disappointed in the county’s interpretation. However, they did not want to interfere with passage of the ballpark plan.

“We carefully constructed this Compact so as not to violate any existing law,” Bishop Victor T. Curry, President, Miami-Dade County Chapter of the NAACP, said in a statement. “Any time one of our corporate citizens attempts to provide opportunities for all races in this County, I believe the County Attorney's Office should embrace the concept and not obstruct it. We had several attorneys research this issue, and they reached a different conclusion … I look forward to working with the Marlins without political interference to ensure that this community is a place where all people can prosper.”

“We have always believed, and continue to believe, that the Community Compact between three private parties does not conflict with Federal law,” Marlins President David Samson said in a statement. “However, at the urging of the County Attorney, we have agreed to rescind the Compact. The result of this action does not change our commitment to work with the NAACP, the Miami-Dade Chamber and other community organizations to ensure that the ballpark project provides a benefit to all members of our community.”

The Miami City Commission is to vote on the plan to finance the $515 million ballpark at the former site of the Orange Bowl at 9 a.m. Thursday. Miami-Dade County Commissioners are scheduled to consider the plan at 1 p.m. Monday.

On Friday, the Marlins, NAACP and Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce signed a pact to ensure 15 percent of the construction and operations contracts on the new ballpark go to black-owned businesses. On Sunday, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria said the timing for the stadium is perfect because of the jobs it will bring during the recession.

But on Monday, the ballpark project hit another snag. Miami-Dade County attorneys raised concerns that the pact over black-owned businesses could be unconstitutional and said they did not want county commissioners considering the deal with that provision. Team, NAACP and chamber officials worked Monday to modify the language of the deal to maintain its intent.

I'm told the issues should be worked out, but they provided another obstacle as the team and Major League Baseball officials continue lobbying Miami City and Miami-Dade County commissioners to support the ballpark deal. Marlins President David Samson said the meetings on the ballpark deal will go on as planned. The Miami City Commission meets to consider the deal at 9 a.m. Thursday; the county commission is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Monday.

Exactly a month after the Marlins ballpark got caught in limbo when Miami City Commissioners deadlocked in a 2-2 vote on financing for the $515 million venue, the team forged a partnership aimed at helping to jumpstart the project.

The Marlins, the NAACP, and the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce signed an agreement today to guarantee 15 percent of stadium construction and operation contracts go to black-owned businesses. The deal provides 15 percent of the team’s contribution to the stadium in construction contracts and 15 percent of its contracts for products and services used in the annual operation of the venue to those businesses.

“This is a great day for black business, not only in Miami, but nation-wide. It shows the strength of collaboration between the NAACP as an advocacy group and the chamber of commerce as an effective economic development organization,” Bill Diggs, President and CEO of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. “This agreement creates a standard for partnerships and how they should work in the Black community across the country.”

"It's important to our organization as a good community partner to guarantee that black owned businesses contribute and share in the ballpark's success," Marlins President David Samson said in a statement. "We look forward to seeing the results of this partnership so that a broad range of people in Miami-Dade County can enjoy the many economic benefits that come from a construction project of this magnitude."

Meanwhile, earlier this week, the Miami City Commission, sitting as the Community Redevelopment Agency Board, agreed to expand the boundaries and extend the life of the Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA district to raise millions of dollars for city projects. The decision helps ensure dollars will be used to “eliminate slum and blight in Overtown/Park West,” according to a city press release.

Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones has been seeking additional dollars for her district, before agreeing to support the Marlins ballpark project. It was Spence-Jones’ absence – she was on maternity leave – from the Feb. 13 commission meeting that led to the 2-2 vote.

Miami City Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the ballpark financing plan on Thursday. Miami-Dade County Commissioners are to vote on the ballpark on March 23.

Now that the Miami City Commission is scheduled on March 19 to vote on the Marlins ballpark and related issues, the Miami-Dade County Commission will meet a few days later on March 23.

Last week, the county commission delayed its meeting indefinitely at the request of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who decried the politics that had surfaced over the issue at the city. Alvarez requested the county commission delay its meeting until the city commission resolved its issues and voted on the ballpark.

The ballpark project has been stalled since the city commission deadlocked 2-2 on Feb. 13, when City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones was absent on maternity leave. Commissioner Marc Sarnoff offered three amendments to the deal aimed at providing more protection for the city and county and the commission continued its meeting until this month. Since then Spence-Jones said she would attend the next meeting and has also asked for protections for her district.

Last week, the city commission scheduled its meeting for 9 a.m. March 19. The county commission will meet at 1 p.m. March 23.

The Miami City Commission won’t vote this Friday on a new ballpark for the Marlins, but has again rescheduled its meeting – this time until March 19.

The new delay, which comes as tempers have flared between the city and Miami-Dade County over the ballpark issue, will allow city commissioners to consider the ballpark agreements and related issues, including waiving the competitive bidding requirements to allow the ballpark contractor to also conduct adjacent street and sewer work.

On Tuesday, the Miami-Dade County Commission, which had been scheduled to vote on the $515 million ballpark next Monday, agreed to delay its meeting indefinitely until the city commission considered the ballpark agreements and all related issues. The delay came at the request of Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who on Monday said the issue had become the subject of political grandstanding by some city commissioners.

The ballpark financing plan has been stalled since Feb. 13, when the city commission met to vote on the plan, but deadlocked 2-2 with Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones on maternity leave and Commissioner Marc Sarnoff making three new demands aimed at extracting more from the deal for the city and county. Rather than killing the ballpark deal, the commission chose to continue the meeting this month.

Since then, Spence-Jones has also asked for protections for her district, before agreeing to support the ballpark project.

The city commission will meet at 9 a.m. March 19 at Miami City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami.

With just a few days until the Miami City Commission is to vote on the Marlins ballpark agreements, things got ugly today.

After Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones released on Friday a list of demands to protect her district before she’d support the ballpark, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez held a press conference Monday afternoon decrying the politics that have consumed the ballpark issue since Feb. 13. That’s when the Miami City Commission deadlocked 2-2 in votes on the stadium, after Commissioner Marc Sarnoff demanded more for the city from the deal. The votes nearly killed the deal, but the meeting was continued until this month.

“Sincere and earnest work and meticulous and deliberate negotiations have been hijacked,” Alvarez wrote in a memo to county commissioners. “The best of intentions have morphed into unreasonable demands that have nothing to do with baseball. Political grandstanding, the dissemination of half-truths and intellectually dishonest assumptions are rampant.”

He continued: “It is wrong to exploit the public’s keen interest in baseball in this way. The politicking on the stadium, frankly, has become a distraction.”

Sounds a little like grandstanding about grandstanding, no?

Alvarez, who has been supportive of the ballpark, called for County Manager George Burgess to suspend ballpark discussions and the county commission to delay its March 9 meeting to vote on the ballpark issue until the city commission has voted on the ballpark agreements and all related issues. That includes a waiver of the competitive bidding requirements to allow the stadium contractor to also do the adjacent street and sewer work. The city commission is to consider the ballpark on Friday, but not the bid waiver.

In response, County Commission Chairman Dennis Moss, too, called for a delay of the county’s meeting. He’ll consider the delay at Tuesday’s county commission meeting.

Meanwhile, Spence-Jones’ office sent out a release saying she’d be hosting a community forum on the ballpark issue Monday night along with a group called Clergy for Change at 93rd Street Community Baptist Church. The Marlins had no comment Monday afternoon, but Marlins President David Samson was scheduled to attend the community forum.

Sarnoff? He met with the media in front of city hall just hours after Alvarez’s press conference. According to the AP’s account, Sarnoff said he thought a ballpark deal could be had, but that it needs to be reconsidered based on economic conditions.

“I think that we need to go back to the drawing board and take a look at this agreement in March 2009 eyes as opposed to February 2008 eyes,” Sarnoff said. “This is a different world economy than existed over a year ago.”

Over the weekend, Bill Madden speculated in a column in the New York Daily News that both the Marlins and Oakland A’s could be candidates for contraction with their ballparks off the table (A’s) and on the ropes (Marlins). In his column, Madden addresses Sarnoff’s demands for the city and county to receive naming rights and the profits if the Marlins are sold. He even invoked a former Marlins owner, who also couldn’t get a ballpark financed, when he wrote: “…and more and more it appears former Florida owner John Henry was right when he said there is nothing more impossible than south Florida politics.”

As of Monday afternoon, the Miami City Commission is still scheduled to meet Friday. That could change. The political thicket could get pricklier.

Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones has been quiet about the Marlins ballpark issue since her absence at the city commission meeting on Feb. 13 left the ballpark deal deadlocked 2-2 and almost derailed it completely before the meeting was continued until March.

That is, until Friday.

On Friday, Spence-Jones, who had been on maternity leave, issued a statement titled "Commissioner Michelle Spence Jones Says Marlins Must Hit a Home Run for Her District." In the release from her office, Spence-Jones says times have changed since she supported the ballpark last year.

Apparently, Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff isn't the only one with demands.

Spence-Jones' statement listed several. She wants to ensure improvements and jobs for her district. Among her demands: preserving property tax dollars raised in the Overtown Community Redevelopment Agency for the Overtown neighborhood; "authorize a half billion dollar bond issuance to fund the redevelopment of the historic Overtown community," and that the Marlins and Major League Baseball pay for a "mini-baseball youth academy located in the inner city."

Three times the statement says the Marlins "will strike out" on March 6 -- when the commission is to vote on the ballpark agreement -- if changes are not made to the deal.

"In an economic environment where jobs are critical, small businesses are struggling, and construction work has slowed, the Commissioner says the deal must appeal to the needs of her district or the Marlins will strike out on March 6," the statement says.

As always, stay tuned...

Now it’s the Miami City Commission moving its meeting to consider the Marlins $515 million ballpark deal. The city commission is now scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. March 6 – rather than on March 4.

No official word on why the meeting has been rescheduled, but it sounds like it could just be a scheduling issue. The Miami-Dade County Commission is still scheduled to meet to consider the deal at 9:30 a.m. on March 9.

With just a week until Miami City Commissioners again consider a plan to finance and construct a $515 million ballpark for the Marlins, two Miami activists have filed a lawsuit to stop the project.

Graciela Solares, a member of the Miami Roads Neighborhood Civic Association, and Elvis Cruz, a member of the Morningside Civic Association, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Miami and Miami-Dade County alleging the two governments negotiated the ballpark deal behind closed doors in violation of Florida’s public records law.

The suit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, seeks to void last year’s Baseball Stadium Agreement – the document that set in motion plans for the 37,000-seat retractable roof ballpark at the former site of the Orange Bowl – and halt any further negotiations unless they are held in public. The suit states that if the Miami City Commission and the county commission approve five new agreements that spell out precisely how to pay for and build the venue – those, too, would need to be voided. The city commission is scheduled on March 4 to consider five agreements; the county commission is to consider them March 9.

“The only thing they can do is, in a sense, start all over again,” said Linda Carroll, a Miami attorney representing Solares and Cruz.

Carroll said the public doesn’t have a right to interfere with negotiations, but must be allowed to watch them. Otherwise, she said, when it is the public’s time to comment, it can’t make informed observations since it doesn’t know what was considered.

A county spokeswoman said the county attorney’s office was reviewing the suit and had no comment. A city spokeswoman could not be reached late Wednesday. The Marlins were not named in the suit.

In his lawsuit filed last year, auto dealer Norman Braman also questioned the ballpark deal being negotiated in violation of the state’s Sunshine law. Braman’s suit accused County Manager George Burgess of negotiating the stadium deal on behalf of the county in private. The claim was one of the first dismissed in the case.

Carroll said the cases differ and the new lawsuit points out the public knows even more private meetings occurred in recesses during the city commission’s Feb. 13 meeting to consider the five agreements.

“The Chairman of the Commission declared recesses during the Commission meeting so that members of the negotiating teams of the City, the County and the Marlins could meet and confer,” the suit states. “The negotiators left the Commission chamber for the second floor (where the offices of the City’s Mayor and Manager are located). No one in the public knows what happened: all negotiations at that time were closed to the public.”

Knowing Braman’s public records law claims were dismissed last year, it’s possible the votes go on as planned. But it’s also possible Carroll files an injunction seeking to stop the votes from going forward.

As always, stay tuned.

Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Dennis Moss rescheduled the county’s March 5 special meeting to vote on the $515 million ballpark plan, after he learned that a few commissioners might be unable to attend.

Wanting to make sure everyone could attend, Moss has now scheduled the county commission’s meeting for 9:30 a.m. March 9 – meaning there will be a gap of four days between the Miami City Commission’s March 4 meeting and the county’s meeting.

Could the dates change again? Sure. Mark them in pencil.

The Marlins said they hoped to get their ballpark issue resolved before March 12 –- the date Miami City Commissioners chose to continue last Friday’s meeting – the one that lasted more than seven hours.

The city and Miami-Dade County are trying to oblige. The city has scheduled to continue its meeting at 9 a.m. March 4, when presumably Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, who is on maternity leave, will be able to attend.

The county commission, meanwhile, will consider the stadium deal at a meeting at 9:30 a.m. on March 5. The team wanted to avoid what happened Friday – dozens of people waiting for the county meeting, which was scheduled to start at 1 p.m., while proceedings dragged on without resolution at the city commission meeting.

With Spence-Jones absent, the four commissioners in attendance twice deadlocked 2-2 in votes on the stadium deal. City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff made three demands: the team help pay cost overruns on the parking lots; turn over naming rights proceeds to the city and county; and hand over profits to the city and county, if the team is sold within 10 years.

The team agreed to cap the parking lots at $94 million, but would not agree to the other demands. Marlins President David Samson told the commission he would be willing to renegotiate additional provisions, but only if the entire ballpark agreement is reopened for discussion.

As my regular readers know, I gave up handicapping whether the ballpark project will happen several years ago. I have been covering this for too many years and seen too many bizarre things – especially Friday’s Miami City Commission meeting – to know for sure what will happen.

But let’s re-cap and explore some of what occurred:

Approval?: The Miami City Commission might have passed the Marlins’ $515 million ballpark financing plan on Friday, had Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones been present. Spence-Jones, who is on maternity leave and was absent Friday, has supported the ballpark project in the past. That’s no guarantee, but it’s a possibility. Still Commissioner Marc Sarnoff may have raised his concerns (more on this later) about wanting to exact more protections for the public -- and in the process given some commissioners pause.

Even if the deal had passed at the city, Miami-Dade County Commissioners were prepared with their own questions and perhaps even more demands. Among concerns of both city and county commissioners is that general fund revenue could be tapped, should hotel bed tax dollars fall short. General fund dollars are listed as the secondary pledge – as a backstop – for repaying bonds. City, county and team officials have said they do not intend – ever – to tap the general fund.

At the county, provisions are being made to pull a few items that need a super-majority – or nine of 13 votes – from the ballpark agreements, so that a simple majority of seven votes can pass the ballpark contracts. The nine votes would be needed for items such as waiving competitive bidding procedures for the contract for the street and sewer work at the ballpark.

Jobs and public testimony: Before city commissioners began their debate Friday, 36 members of the public spoke. More were in favor than opposed, but both sides were represented. Many of the people who spoke in favor of the stadium, including those representing labor unions, pleaded for the construction jobs it would create during the next three years. The jobs at a new stadium have been in question since most of the jobs at Dolphin Stadium during Marlins games would just be moved to the new ballpark.

Here’s what Marlins President David Samson said about jobs: “I believe and I continue to believe this deal makes sense from the city’s standpoint and the county’s standpoint, and for every single person in South Florida whether you’re a baseball fan or not, the community needs these jobs. It was loud and clear. There can be a debate as to the type of jobs, but the community needs it.”

Opponents questioned such a large public outlay of tax dollars during a recession, whether the money should be spent on other projects, the types of jobs being created, and padding the pockets of private business.

Sarnoff’s demands: The stadium contracts up for votes on Friday were produced as a result of the “Baseball Stadium Agreement” (BSA) – a document the city and county commissions approved a year ago that covered the ballpark project in principle. The contracts are the fine details of that agreement that spell out precisely how to finance, construct, and insure the ballpark, keep the Marlins from re-locating for the 35-year life of the agreement and build the parking garages and lots. The contracts modified some of the items in the BSA, but the BSA always contemplated naming rights proceeds would go the Marlins. The Marlins have sought a new ballpark for years to be able to control their own revenue, so they can put more dollars into the team’s payroll.

The timing of Sarnoff’s demands is what blindsided many at city hall Friday.

For his part, Sarnoff says the dais at city hall is his place to make demands, not in meetings or negotiations ahead of time. Sarnoff said city administrators negotiate a deal they think is fair and then the “baton gets passed” to the city commission.

His demands were aimed at protecting the city and its taxpayers. He wanted the team to help cover cost overruns incurred if the cost for building the parking lots exceeds $94 million. Samson said the team would cap the parking at $94 million, even if that results in fewer than 5,500 spots.

Sarnoff wants naming rights split by the city and county to help them repay the bonds they issue for the ballpark.

And if the team is sold within 10 years, Sarnoff wants all the profits shared with the city and the county since it’s the public’s commitment to building a ballpark that will increase the value of the team.

“I just don’t think it’s taxpayers’ job to enhance a man’s asset,” Sarnoff said. “It’s not taxpayers’ job to increase the franchise value. And if the franchise value right now is $300 million and it goes up to $600 million, it seems to me the taxpayers should benefit from that franchise increase in the event of a flip.”

Sarnoff said if Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria has no intention of selling the team, he should agree to the profit-sharing language. Historically, sports team owners make money when they sell. See Dave Hyde’s column for more on this subject.

The contract does call for the Marlins to share profits if the team is sold, but within seven years and at a far lower and decreasing rate – 18 percent in the first year to 5 percent in the seventh. (The BSA had a five-year schedule that started at 10 percent, so the terms did get stronger).

Samson said the team couldn’t agree to those demands, but would be willing to renegotiate the deal, as long as the entire agreements is reopened.

For comparison purposes, profit-sharing – or sales kickers – are rare. In Washington, DC, the Nationals agreed to share profits if the team were sold after the city agreed to spend $600 million for the ballpark. That provision has already expired. In Minnesota, as part of their ballpark deal, the Twins agreed to share profits if the team is sold.

(By the way, just as an aside: did it look to anyone else like Sarnoff might be auditioning for a run at the mayor's seat? Already Commission Chairman Joe Sanchez and Commissioner Tomas Regalado are running to replace Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, when his term is complete. Sanchez even accused Regalado of campaigning at the dais during Friday's meeting).

What’s next?: The city commission has continued its meeting until March 12, but it’s possible a meeting could be held sooner. Samson said the city and the county will hold their meetings on separate days to avoid what happened Friday, when the city commission meeting ran long and those at the county, were left waiting before the county meeting was called off.

Samson said he believes a deal can still be struck. Read Juan Rodriguez’s piece from Sunday where Samson spoke on the first day of spring training at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter.

On Friday, when he met with the media, Samson said, “Any speculation that you hear that the ballpark deal is off, any speculation you hear that the team or county or city is fighting or anything, that is not the case. What you are hearing from me today is we are trying to figure out the best way to have a deal that makes sense for the county and the team, and we will continue to work toward that. And the minute we can no longer work toward that, is the minute I will tell all of our fans, that it’s over. And that day is not today.”

Deadlocked in their vote for a new ballpark for the Marlins, the Miami City Commission decided instead to hold off further votes until next month.

The commission’s ballpark discussion will continue on March 12, which presumably will give time for any further negotiation that might make the $515 million financing proposal palatable to more city commissioners – and perhaps even allow for Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, who is on maternity leave, to attend.

The Miami-Dade County Commission, which had been waiting since 1 p.m. to start its meeting on the ballpark plan, instead didn’t hold its meeting. The commission chairman will decide when the county should hold its next meeting. Any substantive changes in the ballpark deal would need to be reviewed by both the city and county.

Marlins President David Samson said he appreciated the political process and assured fans of the team and supporters of the ballpark that he is not giving up.

“I do not believe this marks the end, because we will continue to try to figure out a way to reconvene this meeting and have the county meeting that has not even begun yet,” he said.

“I tell our fans who are watching, spring training starts tomorrow, I will be in Jupiter for that. We are going to continue working to make sure the ballpark opens on time and on budget in 2012.”

He said fans should not believe that work on the ballpark is over: “I assure you when that is no longer the case you will hear it from me.”

The deadlock came when City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff asked that the Marlins agree to three additional items: covering overruns on parking garages and lots, and turning over proceeds from naming rights and any profit if the team is sold -- to the city and county. Samson said the team would agree to cap the parking costs at $94 million, but not the other provisions.

Miami City Commissioners reconvened, but are no closer to a deal. Their meeting has devolved into political chaos.

In responding to Commissioner Marc Sarnoff’s proposals to cover extra costs of parking garages and to turn over naming rights and any profits of a team sale to the city and county, Marlins President David Samson said the team would agree to cap the cost of parking garages and lots at $94 million.

As for the other two provisions, he said the team could not agree, but if the commission wanted he would be willing to renegotiate the entire deal. Not just the parking agreement and non-relocation, but the ENTIRE deal.

Samson reminded Sarnoff and the other commissioners that the agreements before the commission were similar to the agreement to build a stadium in principle – known as the Baseball Stadium Agreement – that commissioners approved a year ago.

"We are open to renegotiate the entire agreement," Samson said. "All five agreements."

The commission decided to move forward with a vote on Sarnoff’s motion with the added provisions, which Samson said will result in “no deal.” But the voting ended at one no (Angel Gonzalez) and two yeses (Sarnoff and Tomas Regalado), when commission chairman Joe Sanchez lashed out at Regalado.

“You just voted against the deal,” Sanchez said.

“I’m voting for the residents of Miami, Mr. Chairman,” Regalado said. “Respectfully, it is not about the deal. It’s about the residents of the city of Miami. I believe these terms can be achieved.”

By the way, both Sanchez and Regalado are running for mayor of Miami to replace Mayor Manny Diaz.

Regalado continued: “We want the stadium, these are details that you all didn’t work out, but according to you mr. Manager, you got a lot of things from the county. Well, now is the time to come back to the table.”

All the commissioners sounded like they believed in helping finance a ballpark for the Marlins, but they can’t yet agree how, despite having the framework of a deal for the past year.

City Manager Pete Hernandez suggested another recess to meet with team and county officials. The group has gone to huddle in the city offices.

“I think today is a truly sad day for the county,” Sanchez said. “My colleagues have taken the hopes of many, the people who live in Little Havana.”

Again, stay tuned...