Miami Marine Stadium

This guide to Miami Marine Stadium follows Hilario Candela, a twenty-eight-year-old Cuban immigrant architect who designed a cantilevered concrete grandstand that seems to float over the bay, opened in nineteen sixty-three for powerboat races, Easter services, and even an Elvis Presley film shoot. It traces Hurricane Andrew's strike in nineteen ninety-two and the city's decision to shutter the stadium as too dangerous, despite an engineering study finding it barely damaged. For more than three decades the gates stayed locked, while graffiti artists climbed the fences and covered every wall and seat.