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Miami board votes against Coconut Grove Playhouse redevelopment plan
Plan was to demolish the 1,100-seat auditorium and replace it with a new 300-seat theater
Miami-Dade County’s plan to revitalize the Coconut Grove Playhouse has fallen through after years in the making.
Miami’s historic preservation board voted 6-4 against the plan that would have demolished the playhouse’s auditorium, according to the Miami Herald.
The move comes just two years after the city approved a $20 million master plan that would have replaced the playhouse’s 1,100-seat auditorium with a new 300-seat theater.
Some preservationists thought the county did not present them with enough options on how it could still maintain the theater, according to the Herald.
The county’s preservation consultant, architect Jorge Hernandez, said the other alternatives were not not viable.
The county can still appeal the board decision to the Miami City Commission. The revamp plan began in 2004 when the county, Florida International University and the state of Florida agreed to reopen and manage it as a live theater. A 2013 lease deal with the state, which owns the property, said the county must reopen the theater by 2022. [Miami Herald] — Keith Larsen