Efforts are being made to restore Miami Marine Stadium, architected by Cuban exile Hilario Candela in 1963, to prominence.

Miami Marine Stadium was the first Miami building to be built by an exile architect, Fox News Latino reports. It was also the first U.S. building to be specifically designed for powerboat racing.

"The city conceived the idea to [bring in] community leaders to create a venue that would help the image of Miami and attract tourists to make the city grow -- a special location [to enjoy] all of the opportunities presented by the post-war leisure time, and I was committed to do [just that] with the Miami Marine Stadium," Candela, who built the stadium at age 28, said.

The likes of The Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr., Elvis Presley, Queen and former President Richard Nixon have graced the stadium. In 1992, however, Hurricane Andrew, a category 5 storm, dismantled the place, turning it into a "skeleton," home to not much more than graffiti, according to FNL. In 2010, Miami Marine Stadium was put on the World Monuments Fund list.

In response, Candela, now 80 years old, and others have formed Friends of Miami Marine Stadium, a nonprofit organization dedicated to "the restoration and return to operation of" the stadium, according to the group's official website. FNL reports that the organization does not accept tax dollars, but a small amount of public money will be used.

"We are not asking for one penny from the city. We are not using one dollar of [local] public funds for this work," Rosa Lowinger, president and chief architecture conservator of Rosa Lowinger & Associates -- Conservation of Art + Architecture and former Friends of Miami Marine Stadium board member, explained. "This is all going to be [mostly] privately funded."

Some good news has fallen upon the stadium since the hurricane. In 2008, Dade Heritage Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Miami-Date County historical sites, helped the stadium get $3 million in restoration funding.

"That has now been secured, and [we're] just waiting for the whole project to be in place," Becky Roper Matkov, CEO of Dade Heritage Trust, said.

In April 2014, the site was chosen as one of eight finalists for a grant by the Getty Foundation's Keeping It Modern initiative. Gloria Estefan also donated $500,000 to the Miami Marine Stadium earlier this month, Latina reported.

Friends of Miami Marine Stadium has a fundraising goal of $30 million.

"It would be a legacy of the Hispanic community in the United States, and especially the Hispanic community that made Miami their home, the legacy of the Hispanic community to come -- that would be the Miami Marine Stadium," Candela said.
---

Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

Related