Attorney and longtime arts supporter Lewis “Mike” Eidson is leading a group pitching a two-theater complex on the site of the historic Coconut Grove Playhouse.
Under Eidson’s proposal, a 750-seat theater would be added to the 300-seat venue already planned for the site. A parking garage and office space would also be included. Eidson estimated the expanded complex has a $45 million total cost.
Eidson suggested Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts as the operator of the larger theater, according to the Miami Herald. The 300-seat theater is set to become the new home of GableStage, based on the January state approval to transfer the shuttered theater and surrounding land to Miami-Dade County and Florida International University. The county is receiving proposals from architects for the new theater.
The chairman of the Performing Arts Center Trust and a former Coconut Grove Playhouse board member, Eidson envisions “a civic center dedicated to great theater in a modern playhouse complex” at the 3500 Main Highway site. [Miami Herald] — Eric Kalis