Coconut Grove Playhouse Dispute Headed To Court?

MIAMI, FL — Miami-Dade County is expected to make good on its threat to file a lawsuit Monday over the ongoing dispute between Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez based on their differing visions with respect to the Coconut Grove Playhouse, according to an attorney who represents area residents.

Attorney David Winker told Patch the lawsuit is likely to challenge either the veto issued by Mayor Suarez or a decision by the city's Historic and Environmental Preservation Board.

"I don't know what their angle is going to be, but I'm thinking they attack the veto rather the HEPB decision," said Winker.

Miami City Attorney Victoria Méndez said she had not been served as of late Monday afternoon. The attorney representing the county did not immediately respond to Patch.

Once the lawsuit is filed, Winker told Patch he plans to "file an appropriate response expeditiously."

The public feud between the mayors has stalled plans to renovate the historic theater built in 1927.

Suarez insists that the county wants to demolish too much of the existing theater and replace it with a much smaller venue along with a commercial shopping area.

"My plan is simple. My plan is we need to exhaust all remedies before we even consider demolishing a historic property and we're not anywhere near that," Suarez explained last month on WLRN's "Sundial" radio program.

"Instead of making it a 66% commercial mall and 20% small theater, why don't we come together to restore the theater, create an annex and do something that's really going to leave a lasting legacy for our children, and preserve one of our few properties on the National Historic Register in our inventory in the city," Suarez said at the time.

The Miami mayor said he doesn't believe that a 300-seat theater would be commercially viable to attract larger shows.

Suarez instead wants to see a fully restored playhouse with 700 seats and a smaller 200-seat annex theater.

Miami-Dade Mayor Gimenez' vision for the playhouse is to save the iconic facade while building a new 300-seat auditorium behind it.

"That back portion will be eliminated because ... there's no historical value left inside the structure itself. That's already been determined because it's been altered so many times," said Gimenez, also appearing on WLRN. "The actual structure of the shell that encompasses that auditorium does not really fit well for modern theater. If you try to put a modern theater in it, you'd have to actually alter that because that doesn't fit well with modern theater."

Gimenez said the city of Miami Parking Authority would pay for the construction of a new parking garage, but the authority would recoup its investment over time through parking fees, estimated at around $450,000 per year.

"The Miami Parking Authority is actually going to be doing the renovation of the front and also doing their parking structure," Gimenez said on the program. "The Miami Parking Authority will fully recoup all their costs through parking fees, and then any additional revenue that they generate, will then go to subsidize the operations of the theater."

Earlier this month, Suarez demanded that county officials come up with a better plan to restore the shuttered structure while announcing his first veto to bring down the curtain on the county plan after it won approval from the Miami City Commission.

The county leases the building from the state and has committed to restoring the theater in a joint project with Florida International University.

City commissioners subsequently failed to override Suarez' veto.