Miami Stadium Apartments owners donate remaining money for historical marker

Swezy family contributes $900 in push for Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium recognition

This is how Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium looked as it was being demolished in June 2001. (Abel Sanchez)

MIAMI – The owners of an apartment complex that now occupies the land where Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium once stood have paid the remaining money needed to erect an historical marker at the site.

Lewis and Elizabeth Swezy donated $900 Thursday to the GoFundMe campaign that was created last month.

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Abel Sanchez, 44, started the campaign to pay for a marker commemorating the defunct stadium, which was torn down in 2001 and replaced by the Miami Stadium Apartments.

Sanchez, who grew up in Miami, used to be a batboy for the Baltimore Orioles when they called the stadium their spring training home. Sanchez said that he started thinking more about the old stadium, which was located at 2301 NW 10th Ave., as he would drive past the former site on his frequent visits to the burgeoning Wynwood arts district.

As he started seeing "my Miami vanish," Sanchez was overcome by a sense of nostalgia for the iconic sights of his city that have been lost over the past decade.

First, there was the demolition of the Orange Bowl, torn down in 2008 to make way for Marlins Park, where Sanchez works on game days. Then, there was the closure of Jimbo's Place, which opened in 1954 and remained a hidden gem, tucked away from the skyscrapers on a protected plot of land on Virginia Key until it was razed in 2012. Most recently, the old Miami Herald building was demolished in 2014 to make way for a luxury destination casino resort that has yet to be built.

Sanchez said seeing other historical markers throughout the county got him thinking: Why isn't there one for Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium?

New York Yankees slugger Don Mattingly (23), now manager of the Miami Marlins, prepares to bat during a 1988 spring training game against the Baltimore Orioles at Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium. Jack Clark (21) waits on deck. (Abel Sanchez)

After all, there was plenty of history at the spring home of the Orioles from 1959 until 1990. Before that, Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers played there from 1950-57. The original Miami Marlins, a Triple-A team in the International League, also played at the ballpark from 1956-60.

But when the last tenants moved out in 1990, the stadium sat unused. The death knell to the stadium may have come when Miami's new Major League Baseball expansion team (then known as the Florida Marlins) opted for the much-larger Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens.

The city rezoned the property in 1998, and former Hialeah councilwoman Ruby Swezy purchased the 12.6-acre parcel for $2.1 million a year later with a plan to build affordable housing on the land.

Swezy died last year, but her son, Lewis Swezy, still owns the Miami Stadium Apartments through his Centennial Management Corp.

When his wife read about Sanchez's quest to get an historical marker made, Elizabeth Swezy said she felt compelled to act.

"We want to give back to the community," she told Local10.com.

Lewis and Elizabeth Swezy were one of 32 donors who contributed to the $2,500 goal needed to pay for the historical marker.

Miami resident Abel Sanchez was pictured outside Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium shortly before it was demolished in 2001. (Abel Sanchez/GoFundMe)

Sanchez said a custom, two-sided marker from the Florida Division of Historical Resources in Tallahassee, along with postage and shipping, costs $2,200. GoFundMe takes 5 percent, plus 2.9 percent in processing fees. The remaining money will be used to pay for installation.

Once the Swezys pitched in for the remaining cost, Sanchez shut down the fundraiser.

"I'm not in this to make money," he said.

The next step is to file for the application with the state. Sanchez said Michael Hart, the state historical marker coordinator, believes the marker will be approved.

If approved, the marker will likely be ready by early November or December. Elizabeth Swezy said she hopes to have a formal ceremony with the mayor and other city leaders when the marker is installed.