Does the Grove need a makeover?

A couple of merchants stopped us the other day to complain about the uglyness of the Grove. They say it is too brown and beige, too blah. But there are some areas that are really nice, like Jaguar. The colors there are very inviting.


Right across the street, Maya Hatcha and The Shoe Store are also quite colorful and inviting. So it appears that Grand Avenue has the prettiest buildings. And of course adjacent to these stores is the newly painted info booth with all it's bright and cheery colors, manned by bright and cheery Louis.


Now Main Highway is a problem according to many merchants. They think it needs a makover. Where is David Bromstad when you need him. Aren't they doing the Color Splash tv show in Miami now? Or John Gidding can do Curb Appeal the Block here. It is pretty blah. That jewelry or electronics store or whatever it is looks like it belongs on a desolate city block in downtown Miami, Burn Notice can actually use it as a city street set without having to go downtown to film.


Across the way on Main Highway is this hodgepodge of buildings. St. Stephen's knocked down the 1912 church to put up a strip mall it looks like, next to an ugly strip mall that is there already.


Across from that mess is Florentine Plaza, which is very Mediterranean in it's style and quite old. It could be painted brighter and fresher, but it is pretty. But maybe Sheri and the crew from Blu Moon Studio could do something with the look of it by changing the colors to something brighter. The flowers on the light poles are nice, but they are so high and cannot even be seen, you can barely see them in the photo above. The older gas lights were in proportion. The new ones are two high, you can see the contrast here.


The most elegant building on the block is the H&H Jewelry store. While it is a pale yellow and white and not very colorful, it is very stately. It was a bank at one time.

The Grove is not very cohesive when it comes to its look. It's a mish mash and ugly in many areas. A makeover is desperately needed. Also, flowers on the light poles are nice, but more are needed on the streets -- bright big flowers in big flower boxes.