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Miami Herald
Miami Herald
Sport
Barry Jackson

Hard Rock Stadium and Dolphins' Davie facility declared safe, sound after Irma

Hard Rock Stadium was not damaged structurally by Hurricane Irma and can now be used by its tenants, the Miami Dolphins and the University of Miami.

And the Dolphins' Davie facility wasn't damaged, either, meaning the team will return to South Florida after Sunday's game at the Los Angeles Chargers.

Dolphins CEO Tom Garfinkel tweeted on Tuesday morning: "After thorough inspection by engineers, it has been deemed that [at]hardrockstadium experienced no structural damage from Irma."

He added: "We are good to go [at]HardRockStadium with [at]CanesFootball on the 23rd!"

That University of Miami-Toledo game at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 23 is the next scheduled event at Hard Rock. Hurricanes athletic director Blake James said Tuesday morning that he's not sure when UM will practice again, because the school's Coral Gables campus is closed until next Monday.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins won't play at home until Oct. 8 against Tennessee. The NFL rejected the Dolphins' preference to move their Oct. 1 game against the Saints from London to Miami.

The Dolphins inquired about moving the London game because Hurricane Irma forced the team to reschedule its Sept. 10 home opener against Tampa Bay until Nov. 19 and because the storm forced the team to spend 10 days in California in advance of Sunday's game at the Los Angeles Chargers.

Garfinkel also tweeted that Hard Rock Stadium "lost landscaping and a section of roof panels in 1 corner. Engineers believe a tornado touched down. Aesthetic in nature and easy to fix."

Meanwhile, the Dolphins say they won't need to use contingency plans to practice in West Virginia next week because their Davie facility is fine.

"Davie [at]MiamiDolphins facility also gets the all-clear and will be available to team for practice after LA," Garfinkel tweeted.

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