Theater deemed historic building

Posted on Thursday, October 06, 2005

PATRICK FARRELL/HERALD STAFF

COCONUT GROVE

Theater deemed historic building

The entire exterior of the Coconut Grove Playhouse was designated as a historic landmark Wednesday -- even though the board that runs the theater wanted only its front entrance and walls protected.

BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI
aviglucci@herald.com

To a round of applause from activists, Miami's preservation board unanimously conferred historic designation on the Coconut Grove Playhouse's storied 1926 theater on Wednesday, ensuring that at least the building's exterior will be preserved for posterity.

The 8-0 vote came over the objections of the nonprofit theater's administrators, who asked the board to protect only the elaborate main entrance and flanking exterior walls, which retain most of the landmark's original Mediterranean Revival details.

Board members politely but quickly brushed aside the request by playhouse board member Michael Chavies for fac¸ade-only designation, approving protection for the entire building instead.

That does not preclude the playhouse from coming back to the board with a plan for renovations or expansion that might entail demolishing sections of the building's rear or interior, board members said.

But designating the entire theater ensures that the board will have the authority to judge whether plans drawn up by the playhouse are compatible with the city's preservation ordinance.

It would be ''setting a bad precedent for us to say we're not going to be involved in plans that could adversely affect the historic elements of this building,'' preservation board member Gary Appel told Chavies and other playhouse administrators at Miami City Hall.

However, he promised the board would review any proposals from the playhouse ``with an open mind.''

Board members have been long pursuing construction of a new theater, to be financed by possible development of a parking garage and condos on the nonprofit's prominent corner property, ceded to it by the state of Florida last year.

The playhouse also has been earmarked for about $20 million in local bond money for renovations.

The vote capped a monthslong effort by preservationists and Grove activists to save the playhouse building, prompted by disclosure of an $8 million agreement between the playhouse and a developer earlier this year. The developer has since backed out.

The playhouse doesn't have any development plan at present, Chavies told the board.

Chavies had little reaction after the vote.

''I'm going to discuss it with my fellow board members,'' Chavies said in a brief interview. ``We'll discuss our legal options.''

The playhouse can appeal the designation to the city commission, though it has rarely overturned preservation board decisions in recent years.

Possible grounds for an appeal emerged from Wednesday's debate. The designation included both the theater building and a large adjacent parking lot that has no historic connection to the playhouse because they both fall under the same legal description in property records. Ellen Uguccioni, a preservation consultant who evaluated the site for the city, said the parking lot did not merit inclusion in the historic designation.

Board members said that by ordinance, they were unable to carve out the lot without a new property survey, although that could be modified later. But its inclusion could force the city commission to overturn the designation as legally flawed.

''Our hands are tied right now,'' said board chairman Andy Parrish, adding that he would have preferred a compromise that excluded the lot while protecting the entire building.

But there was virtually no disagreement on the importance of the playhouse building, widely considered a cultural, architectural and historic landmark with few equals in Miami-Dade County.

Designed by one of Miami's most important early architects, Richard Kiehnel, it's among the earliest local Mediterranean Revival structures and a milestone in the development of Coconut Grove. In the 1950s, it was converted from movie house into Miami's first live theater by another noted Miami architect, Alfred Browning Parker, and hosted the U.S. premiere of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

''The Coconut Grove Playhouse is one of the most distinguished buildings in Miami,'' Uguccioni told the board.

Copyright 2005 Knight Ridder