This may be the true "Now or never" moment for this long-running stadium saga. A "No" vote leaves the Marlins in a very precarious position with no obvious solution in sight - Transic

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01/27/09 7:40 PM EST
Marlins stadium vote set for Feb. 13
If project is approved, club could break ground in May or June

By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com

MIAMI -- Last February, South Florida officials approved a "baseball stadium agreement" for a new retractable-roof ballpark for the Marlins. How the project progresses will be decided in a couple of weeks.

Feb. 13 is the date the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County commissioners will vote on remaining documents for the baseball-only ballpark. If approved, the organization will move full speed ahead to break ground in either May or June on the facility that is scheduled to open in 2012.

The vote was initially set for Jan. 22, but because of the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama and the holiday season, the stadium vote was delayed by a few weeks.

"Since the BSA [baseball stadium agreement] was approved on Feb. 21, [2008], it's been a long period of negotiations where we've always said we had to get the final documents done," Marlins president David Samson said. "On Feb. 13, 13 county commissioners and five city commissioners will consider all the documents and then will take one final vote that hopefully will result in the building of the ballpark."

For approval, the stadium project needs nine of 13 county commissioners and four out of five city commissioners to vote yes.

In hopes of gaining approval of the documents, the Marlins have agreed to some concessions on the $515 million stadium that is scheduled to be built on the Orange Bowl grounds in the Little Havana section of Miami.

The Marlins have agreed to these changes:

• If club owner Jeffrey Loria sells the team in the seven years after the agreement has been reached, the county would almost double its share of any profits.

• The team's $2.3 million a year rent will increase by 2 percent each year.

• Extra costs due to scheduling or problems between the contractor and subcontractors will now be paid by the Marlins.

The county's share for the stadium expects to remain at $347 million.

Commissioners will vote on five documents on Feb. 13 -- management, construction, assurance, non-relocation and parking.

Additionally, renderings were unveiled on Tuesday, giving the public their first view at what the new ballpark will look like.

"As far as commenting on the specifics, we're going to wait until after the vote," Samson said. "Jeffrey will talk about his vision of Miami, and his working with the architect, the county and the city to make the ballpark one of the great signature ballparks in the world."

Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.