Preservation architect Richard Heisenbottle has been chosen by Miami city officials to design the renovation of the abandoned Miami Marine Stadium, according to The Miami Herald.

Heisenbottle and his team have restored Miami City Hall and the Olympia Theater.

Part of the renovation design will include structural repairs with lighting, sound and seating repairs. The original architect, Hilario Candela will be a special consultant on the project.

The city has not developed financing or operating plans for the $37 million renovation.

The Miami International Boat Show recently used the grounds and basin of the stadium for their event in February. After the show was completed the grounds were supposed to be used as a "flex park", but that has not happened. The grounds of the stadium have been paved over and is currently empty.

Below are recent photos of the abandoned Miami Marine Stadium.

Gloria Estefan Attends the Miami Marine Stadium Event

On Saturday morning the National Trust For Historic Preservation held an event at the Miami Marine Stadium to help create awareness about the building and to help with the stadium restoration.

The stadium has been abandoned since 1992 after Hurricane Andrew. City officials deemed the building to be structurally unsafe and ordered it closed. The stadium was used for boat races and concerts such as Gloria Estefan and Jimmy Buffett.

While the stadium has sat abandoned for twenty two years, it has become a haven for graffiti artists who have used the stadium walls as a canvas to display their work.

The Saturday event gave nine street artists the chance to create live work for the people attending.

The event was attended by Gloria and Emilio Estefan who announced that they were donating $500,000 to help in the restoration of the building. They were gracious enough to meet and greet with everyone who was at the event. Also on hand was stadium architect Hilario Candela, who was mingling with guests throughout the day.

The Friends of Miami Marine Stadium are trying to preserve and restore the stadium and are looking to raise $30 million by January.

If you would like to make a donation, you can visit http://www.marinestadium.org for more information.

Below are photos from the event.