Miami Gardens Commissioners Vote To Bring Dolphins Training Facility To Their City
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - On Wednesday, Miami Gardens city commissioners voted to move the Dolphins training facility to their city.
The new training center is going to replace the 15 acres next to the Hardrock Stadium that is currently a vacant parking lot.
Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert says the decision was a no-brainer.
"Miami Beach has a beach, they have water, we have a stadium, we're the Miami Dolphins, so now we have their football headquarters too," said the mayor.
The decision seemed to be a much simpler one than what we have seen in recent weeks with the Melreese golf course.
Unlike the battle over the Melreese golf course, there was no back and forth at this commission meeting.
While no one at the meeting opposed the idea of moving the Dolphins training facility to Miami Gardens, commissioners and representatives with the team wanted the public to know they would not be paying a dime to build it.
"Where this practice facility will be developed is private. It will be built with private money we're paying on property taxes. This is the sort of economic development we should be encouraging and that's exactly what the county and the city did," said Marcus Bach, Senior Director of Government and Legal Affairs with the Miami Dolphins.
Commissioners say the money the city receives from the increase in property value will be paid back to the Dolphins in the form of a grant. The money will be used for security at any and all Dolphins events.
The Dolphins spokesperson says they will bring a minimum of a hundred jobs from Davie to the new facility.
