MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Marlins, Hialeah discuss ballpark
The Marlins and Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina met for the first time to discuss Hialeah as the site of the team's new home. But a deal is far from certain.
BY REBECCA DELLAGLORIA AND BARRY JACKSON
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Hialeah may not look a lot like Wrigleyville in Chicago, but Marlins President David Samson told Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina that he can see Florida's fifth-largest city as the home of a future Wrigley Field.
During an hour-long meeting Monday, the two discussed potential sites -- but not funding.
''We were very pleased the mayor was very excited with the possibility,'' Samson said.
Robaina proposed two locations where the stadium could be built: on the grounds of the Hialeah Park racetrack and on the site of the former Peerless Dade Landfill in an undeveloped area of the city, west of Interstate 75 and the Florida Turnpike. Both sites are privately owned.
''It was a good first meeting. We looked at both sites and there's an interest in them,'' said Robaina.
Samson, Robaina said, described Hialeah as a ''vibrant city,'' with ''established neighborhoods,'' much like the northside of Chicago, where the Cubs play.
Robaina said he has not spoken with either Armando Codina, who owns the landfill site or John Brunetti, owner of the racetrack, but wanted to see if either site was suitable for the team.
Codina, who was traveling, confirmed through a spokesperson that ``no one had discussed the matter with him.''
Both Brunetti and Codina are seeking to develop their properties, which each contain more than 200 acres. Parts of the storied race track are listed on the National Register for Historic Places, which protects it from renovations. Robaina said the available land is enough to accommodate a stadium.
The mayor added he would not support any form of public financing by city taxpayers to fund stadium construction. If Hialeah does not cover a piece of construction costs, however, a significant funding gap would remain.
Samson has said a stadium would cost $430 million if it opens by the team's new target date of 2010. In order for that to happen, the Marlins would need ``to have everything going forward in the next five months.''
The Marlins have said they will play at least two -- but no more than five -- more years at Dolphins Stadium.
Previously, Miami-Dade County pledged $138 million toward the stadium if it had been built on land adjacent to the Orange Bowl -- an idea that is no longer being considered. But it's unclear if the county would offer that amount for a Hialeah site.
The Marlins have offered $210 million, mostly through rent payments. That would leave a funding gap of about $80 million.
While the Marlins and the county have failed in previous attempts to get a $30 million state sales tax rebate from the Florida Legislature, Robaina said he would like to give it another try.
''If the deal comes down to it that they've got to be a part of it, you better believe we will be up in Tallahassee to get this done,'' Robaina said.
Samson said the county has discussed pursuing the sales tax rebate again, but would ''want a deal put together before they go back'' to Tallahassee. ''We would not be involved,'' Samson said.
In the meantime, the team and city will do traffic studies and site studies on each of the Hialeah locations to see if either is feasible.
The Marlins also have discussed building a ballpark on Wayne Huizenga-owned land next to Dolphins Stadium, but Samson said there has been ''no conversation'' with Huizenga Holdings officials in several weeks. He stopped short of calling that proposal dead.
Samson said he also intended to speak with Homestead officials about their interest in luring the Marlins to a 10,000-capacity baseball stadium once used by the Cleveland Indians during spring training. Homestead Mayor Roscoe Warren said the city manager met with the Marlins once, several months back, to express the city's interest, but that nothing materialized.
''From our perspective, we think it would be the perfect location for the Marlins,'' Warren said of the $20 million city-owned facility. ``The foundation is certainly there. It wouldn't take them that long to do.''
Samson said people have called about ''private sites in North Broward'' but that no meetings had been scheduled.
Meanwhile, the Marlins continue to explore relocation. They already have visited San Antonio and Portland, Ore., and will tour as many as five other markets by April, Samson said. Those markets are expected to be Las Vegas, Charlotte, N.C., Monterrey, Mexico, northern New Jersey, and Norfolk, VA.
