@PatriciaMazzei

Prominent architects and urban planners who worked with former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz's administration have joined the opposition to building David Beckham's Major League Soccer stadium on the downtown waterfront.

In a statement Wednesday, the five people -- including the person who created Museum Park's master plan -- said city commissioners should reject filling the Florida East Coast Railway slip to build a stadium. Diaz, who was mayor when the city approved unpopular public financing for the Miami Marlins' Little Havana ballpark, came out against the idea last week.

"It is not in harmony with the vision of Miami as a world class city with parks and open areas available for all, for generations to come," the statement says. "We must protect the legacy envisioned by the people of Miami."

The statement was signed by Alexander Cooper, the master plan creator; Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, the former University of Miami School of Architecture dean who helped write the city's Miami 21 zoning code; Victor Dover, who worked on the Museum Park charrettes and Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA plans; David Dixon, who helped draft the city's parks and open space master plan; and Ana Gelabert-Sánchez, the city's former planning director under Diaz.

The architects and planners note that a lengthy public process went into designing Museum Park specifically to keep out a baseball stadium, at the time discussed for the Marlins. "Allowing a private venture to take over the last remaining waterfront site in Downtown Miami for use as a stadium reduces quality open space, obstructs public views of the waterfront and disrupts waterfront recreational uses," the statement says.

Beckham's soccer proposal, suggested by Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez, would require filling the FEC and encroaching on a portion of Museum Park. The newly filled water basin would create additional waterfront park land and connect Museum Park to the property behind AmericanAirlines Arena known as Parcel B, which has long been promised as a park but has never been opened to the public.

4:06 p.m. update: Beckham's real-estate adviser, John Alschuler, responded Wednesday afternoon with a statement calling the opposition from Diaz and the others "disappointing" and noting Diaz's support of Marlins Park, which was approved without a public referendum. A stadium on the slip would be subject to city voters, Miami leaders have said.

"A new soccer park in downtown will appeal to Miami's diverse community, bring the world's greatest game to one of its greatest cities, and create jobs and opportunities for local businesses," Alschuler said.

"It’s disappointing that former Mayor Diaz and his supporters are choosing a disconnected waterfront over a continuous bay walk; a polluted, man-made mega yacht marina over more green space for the public; and a lifeless waterfront over an iconic soccer venue that draws residents and visitors to a downtown that they have worked so long to improve."

Read the full statements after the jump.