The Inter Miami soccer club staged a ‘demolition ceremony’ on May 8 to begin knocking down of the old Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale while preparing the ground for their new stadium. The MLS expansion team is set to debut with the first game in 2020 in their new home.
With great pomp and a keen eye on publicity the team’s owner, Jorge Mas, joined Fort Lauderdale mayor Dean Trantalis and other officials in front of the decaying ghost of old, abandoned Lockhart Stadium. A crowd of club employees and media gathered. Over 120 supporters from the Southern Legion fan club waved large flags, banged drums, chanted and set off pink smoke bombs.
The event was hosted by Argentine TV personality Fernando Fiore, who has worked extensively with FOX Soccer.
The club, co-owned by former LA Galaxy great David Beckham and run on the sporting side by former Atlanta United and Orlando City sporting director Paul McDonough, will now begin construction on a new, 18,000-capacity stadium on the same site in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the mlssoccer.com reported.
Inter Miami is set to play there during its first two years in the league while a permanent venue is completed at Miami Freedom Park, closer to the Miami International Airport.
Once the move is completed, Inter Miami will use the Fort Lauderdale facility for a to-be-named USL affiliate squad. It will also be utilized by the club’s first-team players and fledgling academy – both for training purposes.
With the demolition, a chapter in American soccer history is officially closed. The stadium housed the NASL’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers, now-defunct MLS side Miami Fusion FC and others throughout the years.
More details about the project will be revealed at the forthcoming Coliseum Summit US, Las Vegas, Nevada, US on August 28-29, 2019.
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