Sports

The plans that were made for a $500 million baseball stadium for the Florida Marlins in downtown Miami was thrown a sharp curve Tuesday as Miami-Dade County commissioners decided to put the Orange Bowl back in play. Led by Commissioner Joe Martinez, the panel argued at a proposal that was being pushed by Mayor Carlos Alvarez and County Manager George Burgess to build a stadium on 9 acres of government-owned land on Northwest Third Street.

After a long debate, the commissioners offered the Orange Bowl as an alternative solution and directed the county administration to negotiate a deal with the Marlins and Major League Baseball that would cover both potential sites. “Obviously, the manager realizes this downtown site isn’t going to fly,” Commission Chairman Bruno Barreiro said. “We need to make our negotiations non-site specific.”

In an 11-1 vote with Katy Sorenson in the opposition, the commission chose to adopte broad parameters for a construction deal with the Marlins and Major League Baseball. The terms include $145 million in county funding, $108 million from the City of Miami and $30 million in special tax breaks from the state. The Marlins would contribute $45 million in cash and pay $162 million in rent to cover bonds that were issued to finance construction.

Even though the county would be owning the stadium, the Marlins would be designing and building the park and will be responsible for any cost overruns. But several commissioners expressed fears that the county would still end up paying for it all. Mr. Burgess stated that any contract would include ironclad guarantees limiting government contributions to the project.

He said the Third Street site, owned by the county and the City of Miami, is the most viable location for a stadium. However, Mr. Martinez and a majority of the commission were still not convinced. “Let’s put the Marlins in the Orange Bowl,” Mr. Martinez said. “I’m dead-set against the downtown site.”

Mr. Martinez said the downtown tract across the street from the county’s Stephen P. Clark Center is just too small and presents too many problems, including limited parking, forcing the relocation of a planned $300 million juvenile-justice center, and causing the demolition of a day-care center.

Even though she said she prefers the downtown site to the Orange Bowl, Ms. Sorenson voted against the negotiation package because she opposes public funding of professional sports stadiums.