loanDepot Park

What It Is

loanDepot Park is the home stadium of the Miami Marlins, a retractable-roof ballpark in Little Havana that opened in 2012. It was built on the site of the old Orange Bowl, the storied football stadium that was demolished to make way for it. The roof and air conditioning were a direct response to South Florida's summer heat and afternoon downpours, which had long plagued outdoor baseball in the region. The park was financed through a heavily public deal that became controversial, and its name comes from a corporate sponsor, having previously carried a different one. In addition to baseball, it has hosted World Baseball Classic games and other events.

Why It Matters

The stadium's location in Little Havana, on the bones of the Orange Bowl, ties it to layers of Miami sports memory and to the neighborhood's overwhelmingly Cuban and Latin American character. Baseball carries deep cultural weight across the Caribbean and Latin America, so a major-league ballpark planted in the heart of Cuban Miami fits the city's hemispheric identity during the Latin American capital era. The contentious public financing also made it a lasting case study in how Miami's marquee venues get built, and who pays for them.

Neighborhoods: Little Havana Eras: The Latam Capital Era