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Friday, August 15, 2014

Alternate plan for Playhouse to be discussed

There is an alternative plan for the Coconut Grove Playhouse which will be discussed at a City Hall meeting next Friday, August 22 at 6 pm. A special committee of the Village Council is hosting the event.

Currently, Miami-Dade County is working on rebuilding the theater. They are choosing the consulting firms and artchitect and everything needed to get the playhouse open again.

The County, along with Florida International University became partners in leasing the property from the state last January, the state still owns the property.

The County Commission has $20.5 million in reserve for the job but this new alternative plan suggests spending $45 million and having it run by the Adrienne Arsht Center, headed by Mike Eidson, chairman of the Arsht's trust.

This new plan suggests razing the current structure and then rebuilding the facade as part of a brand new structure. It would have the outside look of the current historic building, but it would be a new building. Didn't they try this with the 1912 church at St. Stephen's? Look how that turned out. 

This new plan calls for two theaters, one will be a smaller 300-seat venue and the larger venue would hold up to 900 people. A multi-story parking garage will be part of the building. 

Additional monies would be raised by donations ($25 million in donations). Almost reminds me of the old story of school children in the 1880s collecting pennies to build the base for the Statue of Liberty. One penny at a time did it.

All the details are in Florida Theater on Stage.

City Hall is located at 3500 Pan American Drive, the meeting is open to the public.

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5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Restorations are often much more expensive than to tear down and rebuild to the same appearance. However, you can't get the "feel" and "presence" of the original structure no matter how exact you build it to the original.

August 15, 2014 4:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Better spend the money right the first time around with some expert historical restoration architects and contractors than listen only to bulldozer activists.

August 15, 2014 5:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not two theaters but two different buildings... The playhouse, with a 300 seat theater, then a little sister building, on the same property, where the drive-in in, facing Charles, at 750 seats maybe? A mini-Arsht center so to speak... But come to the meeting on Friday and let's see what they're up to now...

August 15, 2014 7:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Restore it, don't bulldoze it.

August 15, 2014 10:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i dont understand what is so hard or expensive.first you get a new roof then you sand blast the exterrior and replace all windows with modern replicas of the old then you paint it.then you sand and varnish all the wood inside.and replace all old wood that is termite infested etc.last you tent the place for insects ant rodents.most of this can be done for free by volenteers.why do we make everything so dificult.why??????

August 16, 2014 10:56 PM  

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