Vizcaya prepares to restore farm village

Restoration of Vizcaya Village in Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is planned and ready to go when the project’s construction documents, submitted at the end of 2020, are permitted by the City of Miami, though restoration is still not fully funded.

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, previously known as Villa Vizcaya, is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, built a century ago on Biscayne Bay in the present day Coconut Grove neighborhood at 3251 S Miami Ave. The estate was created to resemble a European villa of centuries past.

The estate was built to be self-sustaining, with a farm village to the west side of what is now South Miami Avenue. The county owns the entire villa site and nonprofit Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust LLC operates it as a museum. Vizcaya is now in the aiming to restore the former farm village, which now includes the former science museum building that is no longer open to the public.

The village restoration project is divided into four phases. The first, Phase 1A, will begin the restoration with a budget of $3.6 million, according to Alejandra Serna, director of marketing and communications at Vizcaya.

“We have a contractor ready to begin Phase 1A once the permits are approved,” said Ms. Serna. “Phase 1A includes reclaiming the entire site by getting rid of non-historic structures, building an attractive and uniform fence along the Bay Heights neighborhood and creating a landscaped buffer made of native pine trees inspired by the Pine Rockland.”

The Paint Shop Building will be restored to its original historic form and function as the new base for horticultural operations.

“We’ll be launching the urban farm programs with community partners,” Ms. Serna said. “We already hold the Vizcaya Village Farmers Market every Sunday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. This is a current example of just one of the ways the Village can serve as a gathering place and resource for the community.”

Phase 1A also includes opening access to the Village on 32nd Road for pedestrians, and also a direct link to the Underline and Metrorail. “A $500,000 Save America’s Treasure grant that Vizcaya was awarded in September of 2020 will help renovate the Superintendent’s House,” said Ms. Serna. “This will include new staff offices and an open neighborhood café.” Of the 42 national projects awarded the grant, Vizcaya received the largest in Florida.

“Phase 1B includes relocating visitors’ arrival to the Village Garage and creating exhibits that tell Vizcaya’s past, present and future.” Redoing the driveway will lead visitors through a repurposed parking lot to the arrival in Village Garage.

“Phase 2 creates new programs for students and families in the Farm Quadrangle,” said Ms. Serna. Along with the classical exhibits, a reference library will be added to the staff residence. “It invites the public to participate in the museum’s professional activities at a conservation lab and open storage in the poultry barn,” said Ms. Serna.

The final phase, Phase 3, would include building a new “community courtyard” near the east edge of the Village with exhibition gallery, auditorium and public amenities. “Phase 3 will renovate and landscape the parking lot, build more greenhouses to accommodate our site-wide horticulture needs and build workspaces along the west edge.”

There is not a timeline for the renovation because funds are still being raised and covid makes building uncertain, according to Ms. Serna.

Joel Hoffman, Vizcaya’s executive director, said, “we want to stay true to the history, but also focus on the 21st century needs of the visitors.”