More ideas needed for Glass House
The Glass House in Peacock Park was discussed at last night's Village Council meeting. Ron Nelson, Chief of Staff for Commissioner Sarnoff said that they are still accepting ideas from the public before an actual RFP (Request for Proposal) goes out.
Currently surveys are in progress, also testing for asbestos and things of that nature, but while many feel it is a foregone conclusion that a restaurant is going in, they say that is not the case and public input is needed. What would you like to see done with the glass house?
The Chamber of Commerce and NET office would like to stay. According to the Chamber up to 20 tourists a day stop in for info and brochures, from the little welcome center they have set up there. They would like to continue operating out of that office.
If you have any ideas for the place, please email them to Ron Nelson at rnelson@miamigov.com.
posted by Tom Falco at 9:00 AM
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9 Comments:
Is declaring the house a historical monument out of the question?
Public ping pong tables: need I say more?
Everyone who has an idea about the use of this building should email it to Ron. Create the paper trail to prove there are ideas being expressed. There were a lot of ideas given at the meeting that was held at the Glass House, but those are not in writing. According to Ron, they haven't had much input. Apparently, the verbal input given at the meeting that was held has been forgotten? Make a record. Get it in writing to Ron at the City email address, and maybe you could also post your ideas as a comment to this blog so there is a record of it outside the City as well, but make sure you do both.
Community Center with arts & crafts for children as well as adults.
Michelle is right. send a cc: to Ron Nelson and keep those suggestions coming.
Chess / ping pong /Backgammon /
comp coffee for visitors etc. etc..
Definitely chess tables, ping pong, information - keep it simple, a basic community center open to the public where people can informally gather and tourists can get info.
Free coffee is a great idea - but even 50 cents would cover the cost easily and not bother a soul - particularly those used to paying $6 at starbucks.
I'd prefer a cool restaurant/bar with indoor and outdoor seating and live music, casual like Scotty's Landings but with better food, like Berries. But I know everyone is going to say there are enough restaurants/bar in the Grove but this is just a personal opinion. I just think it would be a great location for it and people will enjoy the park more too. Personally, chess, ping pong and backgammon sound like a bore....well, maybe dominos!
People are always at the library during the day, using the computers... why not make it an extension of that? A casual loungey type place with a coffee kiosk, couches, and free wifi. Also consider a rentable co-work space where desks could be rented by individuals, freelancers, etc, looking to work outside their office, share office costs/resources, and get input from others on their work. This type of thing could co-exist with the NET and Chamber offices.
The Chamber does not need all of the space it currently has. If the NET office does indeed vacate, the Glass House could be the Community Center of Coconut Grove, serving as a "town center" in a manner similar to what I have seen in many tourist-destination communities across the country, for example, Sonoma California, where a building at the entrance of the central park houses the its City Hall, the Chamber, a Visitors Information Center and the Library. In Santa Fe New Mexico, where a building also in park-like grounds houses the Chamber, a NET-style office and Visitors Center. So why can't we fashion a similar arrangement?
It has often been said at many meetings that the BID, The Chamber and the Merchant's Group all need to work in concert. It is also important that our elected body of representatives, the Village Council, have a genuine home. What better opportunity, that to pool resources and truly work in tandem, perhaps sharing part time personnel
It could be divided so that it consists of several areas housing communal community space divided up so as to fit several spaces sized according to need.
A small office for the Chamber staff (2 people)
A small office for Village Council (1 part time) - would be great for the VC to have a place to call home. Perhaps this office could also serve as a floating office for staff of County Commissioner Gimenez.
A medium office for the BID (3 people) - currently the BID rents from Mayfair, it could conceivably move and rent from the City.
A small office for the skate park administrator ( 2) (already renting there)
A small office for the a NET or Parks Personnel (if one is left behind) (2).
A Large conference room that would serve as a communal conference room, with ample seating so that it could also be used for the
Chamber meetings
BID meetings
Village Council meetings
community association meetings
It could also be rented out for other events and meetings.
Additional, smaller meeting rooms as space allow.
A Tourist Information Center - manned by the Chamber/BID/VC/GMCVB. The tourist buses currently pulling up in front of Bath and Body Works could pull up to the Glass House Instead, and the Tour-experience could be better monitored and controlled.
A gallery area with permanent exhibits and information about the history of Coconut Grove and Miami as a whole.
A coffee bar / snack shack similar to the Shake Shack at Madison Square Park in New York, where people can get a coffee (ideally cuban-style coladas) or a snack and sit on the built-in tables in the terrace adjacent to the Glass House.
I really do not see a full-fledgec restaurant there. There have been a lot of comparisons to Bryant Park but that is a cosmopolitan "park square" consisting of paved walkways with gardens surrounded by major office buildings and acting as the back garden of the Library. The Bryant Park Grill is a major restaurant, as befits a central, cosmopolitan area.
The Glass House also does not work in the way of RedFish Grill at Matheson, which becomes a romantic, and exotic nigh-time destination, because our park is too close to the rest of downtown Coconut Grove for such exclusivity.
We have a large grassy area, a baseball field a skate park and a woodsy area. The Glass House is too far from the water's edge to make it be an attraction to a "waterfront restaurant" in the style of Red Fish Grill at Matheson Hammock - and no amount of curtaining back of the mangroves is going to make that different.
Having said that, I am sure that should a restaurant prevail, I would certainly try it out, but I fervently hope the City does indeed consider the needs of our tourist destination village community, and an opportunity for a Town Center we can truly call our own.
Thanks for considering this.
Liliana Dones
What happens with the place we don't need another failed again, open again restaurant spot anyway. But more to the point. The NET or some other community center AND the net should be there. That's a great place for the net. It's easy to get to and into to and its noticeable. That's an important spot and it should serve the community not just be a place that serves over prices cafe food and shuts down. It's in a public park for Pete's sake. Keep commercial venues out. There are plenty of places to eat and get drunk. C'mon!
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