Beautiful urban blight
In a run-down parking lot off Rickenbacker Causeway sits an abandoned megalith. Miami Marine Stadium is the unkempt concrete canvas that welcomes visitors to Virginia Key.
Marine Stadium was a concert and event venue overlooking the pristine waters of Biscayne Bay. Its happenings ranged from boat shows to presidential campaign rallies; from the Florida Philharmonic to the all-too-regular Jimmy Buffet concert. As time wore on, however, the stadium became increasingly neglected. In 1992, the city claimed that Hurricane Andrew caused millions of dollars in damage, forcing them to close the structure. In the 15 or so years that followed, vandals and street artists had their way with the stadium. And as its walls became increasingly stratified with layers of spray paint, its renaissance began.
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Address 3501 Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne, FL 33149 | Hours Not open to the public| Tip Northwest of the stadium, at the western terminus of the Rickenbacker Causeway’s high bridge, is a quaint little park you can drive into for a great view of Miami’s downtown skyline. There’s usually a food cart there selling warm arepas and cold bottles of water.
The vandalized facades of ticket booths and concession stands offer a graffitied appetizer for what lies beyond the tunnels that lead to the grandstand. At the base of the bleachers, the water laps up against the abandoned slip. Everywhere else, stunning, spray-painted murals overrun every available surface. Memorials, protests, obscenities, and mindless doodles juxtapose themselves, creating a chaotic, stunning collage. The allure lies not only in the sheer amount of graffiti, but in the diversity and fluidity of the tags as a whole. The entire structure has become an interactive piece of art. Distinguished street artists create elaborate murals capturing the social conditions of Miami, but amateurs deface them before they’re even dry; the only permanence is the stadium’s existence.
It’s now a fitting metaphor for the city’s rebirth. Once a clean-cut destination for a Saturday boat race with the family, Marine Stadium had devolved into a purposeless spectator of the city’s watershed years. And much like the city, the stadium has been totally reenergized by Miami’s youth and art scene.
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