On hold: Miami-Dade’s partial demo of Grove Playhouse foiled by neighbors

Miami-Dade County’s plan to demolish a portion of the Coconut Grove Playhouse in preparation for its redevelopment and restoration is on hold. 

A Miami board revoked the county’s demolition permit issued administratively by city staff. The Miami Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board on Wednesday sided with Coconut Grove residents Anthony Vinciguerra and Courtney Berrien, who live near the playhouse and appealed the demolition permit. 

The decision marks the latest in the yearslong controversy over the planned renovation of the playhouse at 3500 Main Highway in Miami. 

Miami-Dade wants to restore the three-story historic front building, and build a smaller 300-seat auditorium in place of the existing 1,100-seat one. But Groovites and preservations have led a yearslong battle to keep the entire playhouse and restore it, including the auditorium. 

Miami-Dade, along with Florida International University, lease the playhouse from the state. Miami officials, however, have a say on the redevelopment plans because the property is within the city. 

In the latest skirmish, Vinciguerra and Berrien argued in their appeal that the city erroneously issued the partial demolition permit late last year. The reasons include: The property has a lien for an existing code enforcement violation, the demolition application was incomplete, and the county’s current plan is different from the plan the city previously approved, according to David Winker, the attorney representing Vinciguerra and Berrien. 

“The project today is different” from what was approved in 2017, Winker told board members during their meeting on Wednesday. “The project in 2017, many people don’t realize, was to provide housing. That is no longer the case.”

Although the city again voted on the county’s application in 2019, the resolution approving the plan did not explicitly mention the word “demolition,” argued Winker, who also presented a record to the board showing a $4,500 lien.

At the meeting, Miami Zoning Administrator Daniel Goldberg countered that the playhouse has no code violations and the demolition application was complete. Moreover, city staff’s decision to approve the demolition application was based solely on whether trees on the site would be protected, and not on the demolition itself. 

The board’s decision to quash the demolition permit isn’t final, as Miami-Dade can ask the Miami City Commission to reconsider. The county is examining its next steps, said Michael Spring, director of Miami-Dade’s Department of Cultural Affairs, in an emailed statement. 

The county’s plan for the playhouse will restore “the playhouse’s historic front building, bringing back theater to this important site and reactivating a gateway to Coconut Grove,” Spring said in the statement. “The discussion at the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board — intended to focus exclusively on the tree preservation aspect of the project — was used as an opportunity to delay the renovation process for an unrelated appeal.”

Developed in 1927, the sky blue playhouse was designed by the Kiehnel and Elliott firm. Robert Browning Parker renovated and redesigned the property in 1955, with a modern twist. It closed in 2006 amid financial trouble.