Historic status for Herald building could block Genting demolition plans

Genting Group’s plans for a new casino resort on the site of the Miami Herald building in downtown Miami could face a new obstacle now that the City of Miami has been asked for the site to be listed as a historic landmark, the Miami Herald reported. The Dade Heritage Trust, in partnership with the University of Florida’s Historic Preservation Program, submitted the application this week. The Trust wants to preserve the 49-year-old Herald building’s Miami Modern architecture. “You can’t take decades of Miami history and wipe it clean in the blink of an eye,” said Dade Heritage Trust CEO Becky Roper Matkov. “We undersand that they have to do something useful with the building, but we just think it has a lot of potential if you’re creative in how you reuse it.” If accepted as a landmark, no significant alteration could be made to the building — purchased from McClatchy for $236 million in 2011 – that Genting was scheduled to demolish to make way for a 500-room resort and casino. [Miami Herald] – Christopher Cameron