http://www.miamiherald.com/new...t/story/1146952.html

Little Havana business owners look forward to stadium
Construction and operation of the new Marlins stadium promises to bring thousands of jobs and customers to Little Havana businesses that recall the Orange Bowl glory days.

BY JOSE PAGLIERY
JPAGLIERY@MIAMIHERALD.COM

The six pink concrete tables beneath the faded red canvas of Palace Cafe & Dairy in Little Havana are empty, as they have been for most of the past two years.

Ever since the Orange Bowl Stadium's demolition last year, the customers who once munched on the shop's most popular dish, chicken wings and fries, have all but disappeared.

But standing behind the counter Thursday, Oneida Pimentel was hopeful she will soon be filling ice cream cones and frying steaks for the thousands of construction workers who will start building the new Marlins stadium later this year.

And when the baseball games start in 2012, business will be much like the old days, she predicted.

"Every time there was a game, this place was full. People had trouble finding parking," she said.

Pimentel, like fellow business owners in the neighborhood that surrounds the site of the future stadium, won't have to wait until the games begin to bring in waves of customers -- a sight rarely seen during these troubled economic times.

Between 5,000 and 6,000 people will take part in the stadium's construction over the next three years, according to Marlins President David Samson.

Even word of possible jobs brought thousands of workers on July 8 to descend on the streets around the stadium. About 6,000 job applications were filled out by laborers from across South Florida. The forms were given to the project's primary contractor, Hunt/Moss, a combination of Hunt Construction Group, based in Phoenix, and Moss & Associates from Fort Lauderdale.

Many that day hoped to find work -- any work -- from setting the future stadium's steel beams to installing electrical wires to painting walls.

Hunt/Moss plans to hand those applications to subcontractors, who may have already filled many spots, Samson said.

But a portion of construction jobs has been reserved for locals, according to the construction administration agreement reached by Miami-Dade County, Miami and Marlins Stadium Operator, LLC.

The agreement states that at least half the workers must be Miami-Dade residents -- and of those, at least 20 percent must be Miami residents.

The same rule applies for the yet-undetermined number of people who will work at the stadium's food stands, clothing shops, maintenance department and ticket booths.

At least 35 percent of the subcontractors hired by Hunt/Moss must be firms located within the county, according to the agreement. It also states that all small businesses located near the stadium -- as well as those that participate in the county's Community Small Business Enterprise program -- will have an equal opportunity to compete for hire.

City and county commissioners approved public funding for the stadium, which will cost an estimated $2.4 billion during a 40-year span, partly because Samson promised it would create local jobs.

Dr. Ricardo Gonzalez, president of charity Kiwanis Club of Little Havana, believes the massive economic undertaking will add vibrancy to the neighborhood.

"Long term, it'll be an investment in the community," Gonzalez said.

But for Little Havana resident Daniel Martinez, the portion of jobs reserved for city residents is too low.

The Honduran joined the thousands who applied for construction jobs last week. He feels the odds are against him.

Gone is the construction boom that once helped him send weekly $100 remittance checks to his wife and two children living in his nation's capital, Tegucigalpa.

Leaning against his bicycle outside the stadium site's aqua-colored gates, he complained that a majority of the jobs should be reserved for the hundreds of laborers who fill the apartments just east of the site. The current quota, he said, could be reached by simply hiring those who live next to it on Northwest 14th Avenue.

"I have a short time," he said of this two months of unemployment. "There are those who have been [jobless] for a year."

But for Julio Milian, the months that follow Saturday's scheduled groundbreaking sound promising, no matter who makes up the construction crews.

Milian smiled proudly as he lifted the metal back door of his converted Chevy truck, parked just outside the stadium. The smell of yuca, yellow rice and croquetas filled the hot midday air.

"If they let me in, we'll bring four or five trucks" every morning at 6:30 a.m., he said.

Just a few blocks west, employees at Bowl Bar & Liquors want a return to what once was: Lots of business. Romelio Peña vividly remembers when hundreds would fill the dimly lit sports bar and sip Coronas while sitting at the bar's swiveling wooden chairs.

"Those days were precious," he said. "They reminded me of the carnivals in Cuba."

And the crowds of fans that once marched down the street before and after every game will return, he assured.

"We're prepared," he said. "But we'll need more beer."