Vizcaya restoration dooms former science museum
Say goodbye to the former Miami Science Museum. In another step toward restoration of county-owned Vizcaya Museum and Gardens set to begin next month, the former science museum and planetarium building will fall.
The first phase consists of tearing down the non-historic buildings on the site of Vizcaya’s farm village west of Bayshore Drive and building an appealing uniform fence along the adjacent Bay Heights neighborhood. One of those buildings is the former science museum.
The area also will be landscaped with native pines from the Pine Rockland.
Work for this phase has been awarded to a general contractor. A couple of permits have been approved from subcontractors that have begun with temporary fencing to prepare for the construction process.
The project has received various permit approvals since January. Some specific design solutions haven’t yet been approved.
“I’m anticipating within the next month that we’ll see some activity,” said Vizcaya’s Senior Director Martha Akins. “Most of it will be hidden because it’s behind construction fencing and it’s the first several months of the project.”
The village is the historic property across the street from the main house and gardens that businessman James Deering began building in 1912 on 180 acres. A member of the Deering Harvester Co., he had an avid interest in landscaping and plant conservation, both of which played a role in the design of Vizcaya.
Mr. Deering, who was advised by doctors that sunshine and warmth would help alleviate symptoms of anemia, planned to restore his health at Vizcaya but died in 1925 and left the villa and estate to his half-brother, Charles. In 1953, the Deering family gave the property to the county with the deed specifying it be used to preserve the historic integrity of the house and garden and be used a museum.
To finance the farm village restoration, Vizcaya has been using proceeds from county general obligation bonds, so it’s fully funded. Vizcaya hasn’t received donations towards this phase in the development.
The overall plan of this restoration has remained the same, Ms. Akins told Miami Today.
When Vizcaya officials were first working on this project, the first phase was split into two separate subsets because they were unsure how much the project would cost.
“We broke it down into a sizable chunk of money that will come from the general obligation bond,” Ms. Akins said.
The phase to follow will repair the driveway of the farm village garage and the superintendent’s house, which is the historic building that was used by the superintendent that worked at Vizcaya. It is funded by the general obligation bond money, but Vizcaya received a $500,000 grant for it. Officials are currently preparing for the construction of that work once the permit gets approved.
“I’m anticipating that we should get this all resolved within this month,” Ms. Akins said.
Construction had been expected to begin in the last half of 2021, Vizcaya Executive Director Joel Hoffman told Miami Today in February 2021.
Twelve of the 43 county-owned acres that comprise Vizcaya Museum and Gardens were reserved for Miami Science Museum use between 1960 and 2015, when its doors closed. The museum reopened as the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science in a huge new facility downtown in 2017.
That same year, Miami-Dade commissioners approved a master plan for the science museum’s old site and the scattering of buildings upon it that once served as workshops, barns, stables and staff quarters for employees of the estate.
“Vizcaya’s future centers on restoration and utilization of the village,” the plan by MC Harry Associates and Quinn Evans Architects said.
Mr. Hoffman told Miami Today in 2021 that the plan also included building a greenhouse, setting up a visitor arrival and historic exhibits area, and establishing a link to the Metrorail and the Underline.
A later phase, he said, was to include rehabilitating the staff residence and a barn for “publicly accessible collections facilities” and turning three farm buildings into an educational “quadrangle.”
The final phase was to include a new community courtyard with visitor amenities, workspaces and additional greenhouses, as well as renewing the property’s parking lot.
County commissioners five years ago approved an agreement with the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust Inc. to operate the museum and historic landmark in Coconut Grove and find jobs for its employees who wanted to remain working for Miami-Dade.
Freida L Norris
June 29, 2022 at 5:31 am
What the hell???? As a teacher in Dade County for some 38 years…I valued the Viscaya complex as a very interesting and unique opportunity for students to explore, research and appreciate as part of out local studies of ecology and man vs. nature studies. I have been retired for a number of years now but still enjoy and recall the possibilities for teaching opportunities with students. I taught 4th and 5th students. My students always loved and wrote glowing reports of their visits there..
SR
June 29, 2022 at 11:10 pm
As a student that visited the science museum in the 1980s, I can only recall it was a very boring place. Other than admiring the globe, I learned little in the small museum. Years later I tried to seek the help of the sanctuary for an injured bird and was turned away. Glad it’s being torn down and Vizcaya is being ridded of this eyesore. The new bay museum is a beautiful and interesting place to visit for all ages. Next up. Get rid of Mercy hospital next to Vizcaya on the bay. It’s a dump on prime land! We can do better.
Sylvia Gurinsky
June 30, 2022 at 4:49 pm
Questions about the headline choice. Actually, Vizcaya is returning to its literal roots. Looking forward to it.
Dorie Stein
July 1, 2022 at 4:55 pm
Viscaya was always a special place to go. In junior high school, on a Sat, several of us brought our lunches & crawled under fencing & met at the Boat House. We enjoyed sneaking in, having lunch, & then the police came. We were taken home in a police car, scared our parents, etc, etc. It was scary to 14 year olds, & we never did it again.
Being born & raised in Miami, I always delighted in going to Crandon Park (as it had been called before becoming know as Key Biscayne). We took nets, buckets, hurricane lanterns, & stood below one of the bridges at night, scooping up shrimp as they swam to our lights. It was an experience that I still love talking about…..and now, I’m 82 yrs old. Growing up in the “Shenandoah area” provided my twin sister & me lots of fun times as we rode our bikes everywhere. Vizcaya was a treat for me…Years later, I attended White parties, Renisanssance Fairs & felt so pleased to live in Miami. Through these years, so many changes are taking place….as generations come up with new goals, new ideas, new projects, & live their lives in wonderful Miami. Miami es mi ciudad, mi vida, y mi Corazon!
Dolly
July 2, 2022 at 12:20 am
What will happen to the globe in the old lobby? It should be preserved. It was originally in the Pan Am terminal which is now Miami City Hall.
Dave
July 21, 2022 at 4:31 pm
The globe was just restored and rededicated this past week at Miami world center in an out door plaza there.
James Albury
July 3, 2022 at 9:20 pm
I used to work at the Miami Space Transit Planetarium. I have lots of happy memories there. I’m going to miss the place. Glad to hear Viscaya is being preserved and restored.
Idiot Politicians
July 8, 2022 at 3:49 pm
The Miami Science Museum at its Viscaya site was manageable. BUT, promoters wanted to make money for themselves so they got idiot County elected officials to divert over $700 MILLION to a new site on a waterfront public park. Yup, with debt service, taxpayers will pay over $700 Million.
Fred Read
July 13, 2022 at 9:11 pm
I too use to work at the Planetarium. We helped raise funds for the facility via Laser Light Show. Lots of people interested in these productions. Also a former Planetarium astronomy show producer. The Space Transit Planetarium was special. Enjoyed working with some good people there. Good memories.
Tim Cotter
September 5, 2022 at 9:24 pm
The planetarium was built the same year I was born 1966. I went there as a very young baby/kid in the late 1960s. I went on field trips there (at least 2) in elementary school back in the 1970’s and loved going there. I also went there with my family several times in the 1970’s and enjoyed it very much. I went to the Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Rush, and Yes laser light shows at the planetarium in the 1980s. I went there a few times in the 1990s, and early 2000s. I met Jack Horkheimer (known nationally as the PBS Star Hustler/Star Gazer) a few times and he was very nice. He was the director of the museum & planetarium here in Miami for those who don’t know. I transported him in the hospital a few times around 1990. He was always pushing for everyone to have a better education especially in astronomy. I loved it when they would try to get people out to the rooftop observatory there, and look through their telescopes. I only wish it could be preserved, but I just found out about this & it seems like this has been in the works for a while. I will write the Miami commissioners and mayor in order to try to at least save the planetarium and build a Vizcaya rooftop type observatory next to it. This would away from the center of city lights like the Frost museum/planetarium is now. I hear this planetarium was also part of the Apollo astronaut training before their actual missions in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. There are a few Youtube videos about this planetarium and museum that I found interesting.