Miami Arena Bites the Dust
While local millionaire Norman Braman dips into his own bank account to fund his battle against the City of Miami’s plan to spend taxpayer money on ANOTHER sports arena, residents of the Downtown area awoke to a massive explosion early Sunday morning as the relatively new (1988) Miami Arena was imploded to make way for a Glenn Straub development.
Straub purchased the abandoned property at a public auction in 2004 for $24 million less than the $52.5 million it cost to construct. The original property was home to the Miami Heat basketball franchise from 1988-2000 and the Florida Panthers hockey team from 1993-1999.
The NHL’s 1996 Stanley Cup finals were perhaps the most treasured memory at the Miami Arena for most local sports fans. Early supporters of the Panthers were encouraged to toss plastic rats onto the ice whenever the “Cats” scored a goal. While the Miami Arena’s reputation for a real rodent infestation inspired this practice, the shower of toy rats was considered a brilliant marketing gimmick to attract new converts to professional hockey in sunny South Florida.
Local legend recalls that a rat ran through the Panther dressing area early in the 1995 season and startled player Scott Mellanby who dispatched the critter with a swipe of his stick. He then went on to score two goals in that night’s game and over the course of the winning season, fans began showering the ice with rubber rats as the team made the playoffs.
Norman Braman’s lawsuit against the City of Miami and the Florida Marlins baseball team tried to block the use of $499 million dollars in public money to build a new baseball stadium and parking garage on the site of the former Orange Bowl. Braman believes the community redevelopment money should be used at a more grassroots level to be decided by the voters of the community. He wanted allocation of the funds to be subject to voter approval rather than allowing the City to go forward with it’s “MegaPlan,” the often secret, backroom deals that have a reputation for being as rat-infested as the former Miami Arena.
One Response to “Miami Arena Bites the Dust”
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:05 pm
What a shame to see the Miami Arena come down after such a short history. That arena launched the Heat and the Panthers and was abandoned by both. The arena was placed in Overtown without much community support. However, during its heyday, a lot of effort went in to working with community leaders to foster good relations. It was a great building for concerts and games, but couldn’t live up to the desires of the professioinal teams.
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