Miami Mayor Francis Suarez wants to set up a “special revenue account” for Miami Freedom Park -- his marquee project -- to ensure that $20M is “dedicated to the public park at the soccer stadium site, rather than any portion of that money going to parks elsewhere in the city,” according to Tess Riski of the MIAMI HERALD. Suarez contended that the entire $20M was “always supposed to go to the 58-acre public park” at the stadium site as part of the 99-year lease that the city awarded to owners Jorge and José Mas and David Beckham. Miami voters approved a ballot question in 2018 allowing the city to “negotiate a development deal for a billion-dollar” soccer stadium on city-owned land. The proposal included that the developers also spend $20M of their own money on a large public park attached to the site, “or other green space.” Suarez acknowledged that the Miami City Commission did vote in 2022 to spend a chunk of the $20M on citywide parks in other districts. Suarez said that the “political appetite at the moment” of the City Commission was to “‘divert’ the funds elsewhere.” Suarez mentioned that the upcoming City Commission vote is “intended to put the funding ‘back in its original position’” (MIAMI HERALD, 2/12).
Miami mayor pushing for ‘special revenue account’ for Miami Freedom Park funding
