One day before Inter Miami opener, Nu Stadium is waiting on occupancy certificate
As more than 20,000 fans plan to descend on Inter Miami’s Nu Stadium for the grand opening Saturday, the city has still not issued a temporary certificate of occupancy for the site.
“The City is working diligently with the representatives of Nu Stadium to issue the TCO by April 4th’s inaugural game,” city of Miami spokeswoman Helena Poleo said in a statement to the Miami Herald on Thursday. Poleo confirmed again on Friday morning that “the TCO is not ready.”
A temporary certificate of occupancy grants permission to occupy a building before a formal occupancy certificate is issued. Poleo said if the TCO is not issued in time for Saturday’s game, there is an option to “proceed under a limited event permit, which is limited to that day, with specific hours, restrictions, and additional precautions.”
During an interview last month, Assistant City Manager Asael Marrero said that to get the temporary certificate of occupancy, the developer has to “meet all of the life-safety and egress requirements” for the areas they’ll be occupying.
“So whatever areas they’re going to have access to by the public, all of those areas will need to meet all of the code requirements,” Marrero said.
On Thursday, season-ticket holders attended a special event at Nu Stadium that included a sneak-peek of the new Inter Miami home and an open training session by the team. It’s unclear how that event squared with occupancy rules.
During an interview Wednesday, the Herald asked Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins if she was confident the stadium would open on Saturday as planned.
“We will open it if it is safe,” Higgins said. “And I hope to be riding the Metrorail there to see the first game on Saturday night.”
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