The Drum Circle incident

Seems that the old and the new had a clash on Saturday night when the Coconut Grove Drum Circle was asked to vacate the premises at the corner of Commodore Plaza and Grand Avenue. I received a couple of frantic phone calls from the ladies who run the circle and I pictured them screaming and yelling, being dragged off in handcuffs, but as I approached the circle a bit later, I could hear them drumming away. They were just a few feet from the area they were asked to vacate. Apparently the new owners of the building would like to change Grove protocol. 

Basically, new people are buying up the Grove, we all know that. For good or for bad, it's happening. The new people seem to be skittish. It's interesting to see how people who are buying the place have no knowledge of the community or history, they are treating the Grove as a portfolio investment and not a small village, a community where everyone knows everyone else, where people have grown up. The new owners are killing the charm without maybe realizing it.

In the above photo, you can see that the Drum Circle moved off of the steps in front of the salon door and were then in the parking area below that, where they drummed until about 11 pm.

The new owners of the salon building on the corner, felt that the drum circle being on their property was a liability, so they called PointeGroup Advisors , who manage the property and they called the police. The police then called the Block by Block company hired by the BID to do maintenance and security, they are the ones you see around town  in the bright green shirts. The drum circle was then asked to move to the sidewalk by someone from Block by Block. He was very apologetic. Keep in mind, the salon owners love the Drum Circle, it's the new owner of that block of buildings on the corner there who complained.

The new property owner does have a right to shoo away people from his property. No, he's not very neighborly, but he is within his rights. 

So the drum circle moved to the little brick parking area, which is where they usually meet anyway, but I spoke with Peter Gardner, head of the PointeGroup and he told me that even that area is part of the salon property, it's not public property, the sidewalk is. But they ended up doing their thing there all night with a massive crowd as they usually do.

Coconut Grove Drum Circle founder
Karen Deilke (left) with
Karina Firewalker

Peter told me that one of his long time friends from high school and now an employee of his, was across the street at Strada, the Italian restaurant, and he saw the whole thing, and there wasn't much of a fuss, as it was made out to be. They all love the drum circle says Peter. He said, "This is one of the things that makes the Grove unique, along with the Hare Krishnas out on Saturday nights. We love them."

I told Peter that everyone is afraid of the PointeGroup and they are being very mysterious, he wants to meet with me and show me their plans and he says I'll like them. He says that business owners who are fearful of them should not be, he says that he would be overjoyed at the plans if he was a business owner, or resident for that matter. But there are two sides to every story and many people just like things the way they are.

It appears that the Drum Circle may not be able to use that corner on Commodore and Grand anymore, but Peter offered them the Johnny Rockets corner, which is empty now and controlled by the PointeGroup and perhaps they can go across to the corner at the Engle Building or maybe even CocoWalk can take them in the area outside The Gap.

Peter's last words to me were, "We're trying to bring the Groove back to the Grove." We'll see, but it would be nice if he could reign in his clueless clients.