Showing posts with label Dolphin Stadium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dolphin Stadium. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

After a drought of water parks -Water, water, everywhere! Water park competition heats up b/w Fort Laudedale Stadium and Dolphins Stadium


After a drought of water parks -Water, water, everywhere!
Water park competition heats up between Fort Lauderdale Stadium to the north and Dolphins Stadium on the Broward and Miami-Dade county line.

Per this interesting Broward Politics blog story by Scott Wyman re Thursday morning's Broward Planning Council meeting -which I will likely be attending- the info below may well interest you, since the area may well go from almost nothing H2O in this market to double our fun with some nearby competition in the future for water park users.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
Fort Lauderdale water park plans could clear hurdle this week
By Scott Wyman
May 25, 2011 09:00 AM

Fort Lauderdale’s proposal to turn its sports stadiums into a major water park resort could clear a major hurdle this week.

The Broward County Planning Council is set to consider whether to sign off on the project and send it to the state for review.

City commissioners are negotiating a deal with Schlitterbahn Development Group for the use of the Lockhart and Fort Lauderdale stadium property for the park.
Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/05/fort_lauderdale_water_park_pla.html

Previous posts by Scott Wyman on this topic were April 25th
and on September 13th of last year
There are a lot of well-informed reader comments there!

Before seeing this story tonight, I was going to post this news regarding the July 21st hearing before the Miami-Dade County commissioners on the plan near Dolphins Stadium to my blog on Sunday, after getting a look at the plans on Friday down at the Steve Clark Bldg. and snapping some photos.

But since the hearing on the facility up in Fort Lauderdale is Thursday, rather than wait a few days, I thought you'd all like to know that the market for this sort of enterprise will be very different once the Dolphins get their way with the M-D officials... which I think is a pretty safe bet I'd say, even if it's not a particularly well thought-out plan.

I still plan on making that trip to downtown Miami on Friday and after snapping some photos of some places and people I've been aiming to mention and show here on the blog for a while -inc. some of the American Airlines Arena for some readers overseas- at some point, I'll swing over and snag some photos or artists depictions of the water park from the formal application.

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Miami Herald
Plans for water park near Sun Life Stadium making a splash
By Hannah Sampson
August 20, 2010

A new water park with wave pools, slides and a snorkel area is planned just across the street from the current playground of the Marlins and Dolphins.
Miami Dolphins owner and real-estate developer Steve Ross intends to turn a 40-acre parking lot next to Sun Life Stadium into a water attraction pegged to a spring 2012 opening -- just as the Florida Marlins will move from Sun Life to the new baseball stadium in Little Havana, said Dolphins CEO Mike Dee.

"We're looking at any and all ways that we can utilize the stadium and bring economic value. It's both an opportunity and a challenge,'' Dee said.

The water park -- which would include private cabanas and a "swim with the fish'' pool -- would be South Florida's first new major attraction since Jungle Island opened in 2003 on Watson Island. And it will be the region's first water park since Atlantis the Water Kingdom closed almost two decades ago. The water park would occupy 20 acres, with another 20 acres of parking.

The Miami Gardens land designated for the park is owned by Ross, former team owner H. Wayne Huizenga and other team partners. The project, still unnamed, will cost "tens of millions'' and will be privately financed, Dee said.

It will require a zoning change from office use to an "unusual'' designation that must be approved by the Miami-Dade County Commission. The project is meant to offset revenue losses in the summer months that would have normally been busy with baseball. It is the first stage of a new stadium master plan, Dee said. Talks on other plans to improve the stadium are ongoing, he said, though he wouldn't give details.

It is expected to create approximately 600 construction jobs and an additional 400 jobs from the water-park operation and increase tourism stays in the area, according to a company release.

The new park would be a unique attraction in South Florida. While the World Waterpark Association says an estimated 1,000 water parks operate in North America, none have existed in this area since Hollywood's Atlantis closed in 1992. The closest comparable park, Rapids Water Park in Palm Beach County, is slightly larger than the planned new project.

Earlier this year, team officials floated the idea of a hotel tax increase to fund nearly $200 million in stadium upgrades, saying the improvements were necessary to keep the Super Bowl coming back. The campaign was put on hold.

But the addition could also boost the region's chances of hosting the Super Bowl again, said William Talbert III, CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"Certainly we would use any asset, any enhancement to the facility, as part of our bid,'' Talbert said.

Dee called the planned park a "best-in-class, state-of-the-art facility'' that should appeal to tourists: "We're going to market it aggressively.''

So will the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Talbert said. ``It would have an appeal to the family vacationer as something new and exciting.''

Company estimates forecast nearly 700,000 visitors during the first year and and additional $7 million in local, state and federal taxes.

Dreams of grand attractions are not new in South Florida. Huizenga himself had planned in the 1990s to build Blockbuster Park, a baseball stadium, movie studios and entertainment complex. The designated site was in Miramar west of Interstate 75. The plan fell apart when Blockbuster was taken over by Viacom in a merger.

While water parks are not primary draws like Disney or Universal theme parks, they still play a role in tourism, said Abraham Pizam, dean of the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

"It would be an addition to the attractions that are already there,'' he said. ``If people are already there, they can extend their stay for another half a day or day, which is great because everybody wins.''

Water parks have survived despite the recession, with more coming online during the past 5-10 years. More of that business has been indoors or at resorts or municipalities rather than outdoors, said Aleatha Ezra, the association's director of park membership development.

Florida -- specifically, Orlando -- has four of the world's top seven parks in terms of visitors, with a combined total of more than 6.7 million visitors in 2009, according to an attraction attendance report from AECOM and Themed Entertainment Association.

"They are still good drivers of tourism and, similar to regional theme parks, they have tended to do a little bit better than larger, more extensive destination-oriented ones,'' said Edward Shaw, senior associate with the economics arm of consulting firm AECOM. "The tickets tend to be a little more reasonable for the markets and they're good for staycations and the resident-oriented market.''

The proposed water park will have some features similar to Aquatica, SeaWorld's water park in Orlando, which opened in 2008.

The Neuman Group, the aquatic destination planning and construction firm shoring up the local project, is involved with both. Theme-park operator Palace Entertainment -- which runs Boomers arcades and Sea Life Park in Hawaii, among others -- is also working with the Dolphin venture.

The downturn in the economy could actually be a boost to a new project like the one Ross plans, some experts say.

"It's much cheaper to build anything nowadays than it was two or three years ago,'' said UCF's Pizam. ``People are out of jobs, companies are looking for projects. The cost has been going down, almost spiraling down.''
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Per the embarrassing butt-kissing comments above of the CEO of the Greater Miami CVB, whom I've ripped before, all I can say is how very preposterous but typical coming from this over-paid sycophant, who supports the idea of M-D taxpayers bankrolling expensive improvements to the stadium -owned by a billionaire!
Read them again:
But the addition could also boost the region's chances of hosting the Super Bowl again, said William Talbert III, CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"Certainly we would use any asset, any enhancement to the facility, as part of our bid,'' Talbert said.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

JT the Brick also sees Gators-Trojans in Miami for BCS Title


Written while watching USC pummel UVA at Charlottesville...

Naturally, no sooner does South Beach Hoosier post a comment yesterday about ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit making a pre-season selection of the Florida Gators and USC Trojans in the BCS Title Game, at Dolphin Stadium on January 8th, then he receives an email saying that popular FOX Sports radio host 'JT the Brick' (John Tournour) has also made that very same selection. See http://www.jtthebrick.com/home.html and http://www.talkbrick.com/

At his podcast site, JT's Rant, http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/3035015/site/21683474/ he said on Rant 161 FULL STORY that
a.) assuming the Gators beat pre-season #1 Georgia in Jacksonville on November1st, above,
and
b.) that USC beats Ohio State at the Coliseum, http://www.lacoliseum.com/ on Sept. 13th -where endzone tickets are currently going for just under $400- he likes USC to beat the Gators in January down here for the BCS title. (Did I mention that JT was based out of LA?)

He also picks West Virginia's Pat White to edge out Tim Tebow for the Heisman Trophy.

Like Herbstreit, he also said that Georgia, while very talented, would not make it to Miami in January, where there are lots and lots of UGA alums, including some NMB High School gymnastics friends of mine, who'd make the Bulldogs very welcome, indeed.
Especially if the team and its fans were based out of the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa down the street at Hollywood Beach.

I actually had the Florida-USC prediction prior to the 2005-06 college football season for the BCS Title Game at the Rose Bowl, which turned out to be the fantastic Texas-USC clash with Vince Young playing Superman for the Longhorns.

FYI: In case you didn't know, Hollywood mayor Peter Bober is a U-T graduate, like many of my friends back in D.C., especially when I belonged to the Texas State Society.

My own family has lived continuously in the Texas Hill Country since 1855, and one of the first maxims I ever learned as a kid, in San Antonio, was one credited to legendary Longhorn football coach Darrell Royal: "Proper preparation prevents poor performance."

Friday, August 29, 2008

Herbstreit pick: Gators vs. Trojans in BCS Title Game here in Jan.


While writing out my next blog post, I was listening to ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, as is often the case.
My ears perked up when I heard Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon's interview with ESPN (and former Ohio State Buckeye) college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit say that if he had to make a prediction right now, he'd look for the Florida Gators to face the USC Trojans in the 2009 Fed Ex BCS Title Game on January 8th at Dolphin Stadium.
Orange Bowl Committee: http://www.orangebowl.org/