What to Know
- The multilevel venue, named Meridian at Island Gardens, will host the Super Saturday Night concert
- Lady Gaga was named the concert's headlining act
- Permits filed with Miami’s building department show construction costs just over $1 million.
Watson Island is being transformed into a new entertainment venue ahead of Super Bowl 54 in Miami.
The multilevel venue, named Meridian at Island Gardens, will host the Super Saturday Night concert with international superstar Lady Gaga as the headlining act.
Construction for Meridian is currently underway, but the land has had legal woes in the past, leaving some to wonder if the project will be completed in time for the “Poker Face” pop star to take center stage.
“I’m hoping to have the building and the structure up by the end of the year and then I have to start building the exteriors and interiors, but our goal is by January 15th to have a completed venue,” said Jack Murphy, who oversees the project.
There are concerns that Meridian might not be completed in time with Super Bowl 54 being only a few months away, but Murphy says the $1.2 million project is still on schedule.
City taxpayers already own the property called Island Gardens, but the city has leased it to a Turkish company named Flagstone, with a deal that has been embattled in court since 2001 due to their rent being well under market value.
Local
A mega yacht marina is already there, but just last year a judge granted Flagstone the right to postpone construction of a hotel, garage and retail space on the site until 2037.
Permits filed with Miami’s building department show construction costs just over $1 million. City of Miami officials told NBC 6 that a permit was issued for Meridian because the structure is not permanent and is part of a special event.
