City reviews application to raze Coconut Grove Playhouse
The saga surrounding the restoration of the Coconut Grove Playhouse is entering its next act as the county has applied for a special exception to demolish the building.
Miami-Dade County filed an application with the City of Miami on Oct. 26 requesting a waiver to permit minor deviations from the Miami 21 Code to allow for demolition within the neighborhood conservation district where the playhouse is located. The waiver is currently under review by the city’s zoning department.
Per the Miami 21 Code, the intent of the Coconut Grove Neighborhood Conservation District, NCD-3, is to establish a protective series of legislative elements to preserve the historic character of its residential areas, enhance its natural features and protect the architectural variety.
The county’s proposal to the city for a special exception comes as several Coconut Grove residents who oppose the demolition are engaged in a lawsuit against the county. At the end of August, 14 plaintiffs represented by attorney David Winker filed a complaint seeking a declaration that the county acted unconstitutionally and outside its statutory powers and an injunction prohibiting the county from using bond funds for its demolition plans.
According to the lawsuit filing, on Nov. 2, 2004, the voters of Miami-Dade County approved a ballot measure for a bond issue to in part fund reconstruction of the Coconut Grove Playhouse to restore its structural integrity and add to its performance and educational capabilities.
Now, the county seeks to use the $23.6 million of bond money approved by the voters to demolish about 80% of the Coconut Grove Playhouse, the suit says. The county’s plan would reduce seats in the playhouse from 1,130 to 300 and replace 60% of the performance space with leased commercial space.
“There’s this $20 million bond and that’s what they’re using to build this mall, and we’re saying you can’t use the bond money to do this,” Mr. Winker said. “What we’re saying is this money is to restore the playhouse and expand its cultural offering.”
The plaintiffs argue misuse of the bond funds violates the Florida Constitution and that county’s plan will diminish the playhouse’s capabilities, which the electorate voted to protect almost two decades ago. Mr. Winker now represents 68 plaintiffs in the case against the county.
“This is such an egregious example of doing what we don’t need. We don’t need more retail space,” said Mr. Winker. “We need more public spaces.”
The playhouse site is owned by the state and is leased to Miami-Dade County. A letter from Jason Aldridge, deputy state historic preservation officer, to the City of Miami Planning Department reviewing the county’s plans said the demolition of the playhouse would have an adverse effect and result in loss of the property’s historic character and integrity.
Efforts to preserve the Coconut Grove Playhouse forge ahead on two legal fronts, fighting the county’s demolition waiver and the ongoing lawsuit seeking an injunction barring the county from utilizing the bond money. Terran Steed, a zoning plans examiner for the city, said the waiver is not final and that he is conducting a final review of the application.
Beau Ezell
January 4, 2023 at 7:46 am
A 1300-seat venue isn’t viable, but there is no need for additional retail space. There’s plenty of vacancies in the Grove. Public housing is a better use for the property IMO. Even a parking garage would make sense.
Sherri Peacock
January 5, 2023 at 5:11 am
The parking lot is the one thing that everyone seems to agree on and is, to my knowledge, an important feature of all of the different plans that have been discussed.
Max Pearl
January 4, 2023 at 9:38 am
A correction if I may. There’s a misstatement in your article which states: “The county’s plan would reduce seats in the playhouse from 1,130 to 300 and replace 60% of the performance space with leased commercial space.” That statement is incorrect. The county is not “reducing seats in the playhouse”. They are demolishing 100% of the seats. That’s not “reducing”…….that’s a complete demolition of the entire playhouse theater, and building a new small freestanding theater separated from any other structure on the property. This is a travesty.
The playhouse is on the local and national historic registers. The 11th district court ruled in April 2021 that the county is “incorrect” in saying only the facade is historic. Is the City Planning and Zoning board going to disregard the ruling of the court which ruled the entire building is included in the City’s historic designation report? Is the Zoning board going to violate the State’s guidelines on restoring historic buildings? Remember, the State is the landlord of the playhouse.
Instead of following the state of Florida rules and guidelines (and the Secretary of the Interior guidelines), the county is demolishing 100% of the playhouse theater (where all of the history took place), keeping a slim facade on the east side (where the box office was located) and building a new, small, free standing building for a 300 seat theater. The new theater will not be part of the facade portion and will not even be called the Coconut Grove Playhouse. It will instead be called “GroveStage”. Any future referring to it as the Coconut Grove Playhouse will forever disappear. The retail space will replace the majority of the footprint where the historic theater once stood, with the small GroveStage theater placed all the way in the back as an afterthought, behind the “paseo” open air breezeway lined with retail shops and restaurants. This is not what we voted for.
Sherri Peacock
January 5, 2023 at 2:10 am
Please save the Coconut Grove Playhouse from the county’s demolition plan and pop-up stores, and bring nationally recognized theater back to Coconut Grove.
Max Pearl
January 9, 2023 at 12:15 am
Numerous producers and artistic directors of regional (LORT) theaters across the country have been consulted—(several of whom gave testimony at several City Hall hearings regarding the playhouse, including renowned impresario Zev Buffman who ran the playhouse with huge success)—and every single one of them has stated that a 300 seat theater is unsustainable. The County has not provided the name of ONE SINGLE theater producer (not a playwright or a sound booth technician or a set painter or the plumber) but a producer whose actual job is to maintain and watch over every penny and the financial stability of a theater). The theater professionals with an alternative plan (the county is not a theater professional) have consulted dozens of LORT regional theater producers and every single one of them has written letters, given sworn testimony that the 300 seat theater plan is “a sure way to put yourself out of business” (quoted from Vic Meyrich, Managing Producer at the Asolo professional LORT regional theater in Sarasota, Florida.) Anyone purporting to care about the economic sustainability of the future Playhouse has an obligation to become informed of these facts before advocating for the destruction of this irreplaceable economic/cultural/historic legendary resource.
Mark
January 16, 2023 at 10:24 am
The Grove Is Over and Has been for a long time . Sorry to say it but if you cant see that you need your eyes checked .
mhernandez
January 31, 2023 at 8:25 am
Why doesn’t Miami Today speak with Commissioner Regalado or Mayor Cava who support the plan? Or what about the Dade Heritage Trust and the hundreds of residents in the Grove that agree with the plan? How many frivolous lawsuits can Winker file? Why doesn’t Miami Today follow up on how he doesn’t even serve the complaints? On this topic Miami Herald’s reporting on playhouse and grove is a million times better than Miami Today.
Shreyas Naik
February 3, 2023 at 2:22 pm
Tear it down gentrification be the way