A New Look in Miami

The home-plate entrance, Aug-2012. The protrusion holds the retracted roof when it is opened.

Looking at the seating bowl from the corner of the upper deck down the third-base line.

A view from directly behind the plate.

Chronological Tour: Stop 363

• Location: 6 Street at 16 Avenue NW, Miami, Fla. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 2012 as Marlins Park
• Additional names: LoanDepot Park (2021)
• Home team: Miami Marlins, Major League Baseball (2012-present)
• Capacity: 37,442

Rating: 3 baseballs

After years of building ballparks that could be called “retro”, the architectural firm Populous came up with a completely new design for the new home of the rebranded Miami Marlins, who moved here in 2012 from the home of the Dolphins in Miami Gardens.

The new park, on the site of the old Orange Bowl Stadium on the outskirts of Little Havana, pays the slightest homage to the old structure with an exhibit and a piece of public art, but otherwise this park does its own thing. Its bright colors evoke the vibrancy of the city’s neighborhoods as well as South Beach several miles to the east, and so does the sculpture (right) that dominated a portion of the outfield view from 2012 to 2018 and went into action (as shown) when a Marlin hit a home run.

As might be expected, ticket prices are a little bit high, but not dramatic. Like the Orange Bowl, though, parking is scarce, but if you go west of the park, enterprising residents will let you park on their lawns at a reasonable rate.

Odd quirks of the park include dual aquariums behind the plate, actually visible during the game with live tropical fish, and a Bobblehead Museum on the concourse.

The park is certainly different, but as with most of the new parks, it works for where it is. There is no need for this team to play in a football stadium it will never fill; the Marlins’ fan base will fit in here just fine.

Alas, for the 2019 season Marlins management toned the stadium down significantly. The home run sculpture was removed to a spot outside the ballpark and replaced by a social gathering area, while the multicolored interior was replaced with a drab white-and-blue scheme, much as the new Marlins uniform for that season was a major refinement. In my opinion, this detracts from the appeal of the ballpark, making an exciting place suddenly appear rather dull. I have cut my rating from four baseballs to three as a result.