Mayors Air Row Over Coconut Grove Playhouse On WLRN

MIAMI, FL — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez have taken their public row over the Coconut Grove Playhouse directly to the people, or at least the people who listen to public radio.

Appearing separately on WLRN's "Sundial" program on Wednesday and Thursday, each of the mayors tried to shed light on the public feud that has stalled plans to renovate the historic theater built in 1927.

Suarez insisted 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, adding that county officials have not done anything to the property in the past five years.

"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," asserted Suarez.

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

"Don't take my word for it. Take the word of Andy Garcia who is a world-renowned actor," Suarez said. "He will cite theaters across the United States that are in the 700-and-above category. Frankly, the way many people who have testified, have said that a 300-seat theater may not be economically viable because it's too small."

Suarez said the property is large enough to accommodate a fully restored playhouse with 700 seats and a smaller 200-seat annex theater.

"What you can't do is have a mega mall," Suarez said emphatically. "You can't have more commercial space and do it all. Obviously, that's just not possible. There's limitations to the size of the property, and frankly, the Grove doesn't really need that. The Grove is an area that's Renaissancing. You have five new buildings that have been built in the last couple of years. You have CocoWalk that's being renovated. Many of the commercial (spaces) and restaurants are being renovated right now as we speak."

Appearing on Thursday's show, Miami-Dade Mayor Gimenez said his 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," he said. "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 explained. "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."

Gimenez accused Suarez of trying to placate a political fundraiser "who has a lot of influence."

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 and Gimenez said the matter is now likely headed to court.

"Everybody talks about another plan. We have a plan. There is no other plan because it's Miami-Dade County and FIU's plan," Gimenez asserted. "Miami-Dade County and FIU actually hold the lease to the property. That's the issue at hand. If we had additional funds, we could do additional things, but we don't have those additional funds."

He added that the Coconut Grove Playhouse will not only survive under the county's plan but will thrive as a 300-seat regional theater operated by Gable Stage, which he described as internationally acclaimed, avant-garde and innovative.

"We want to revive great theater in Coconut Grove — the Coconut Grove Playhouse — to get it back to its iconic state," Gimenez said.