The Coconut Grove home of Bain-Range Funeral Services, a local landmark on Grand Avenue, was torn down this week in another sign of changing times in the historically Black neighborhood known as Little Bahamas. Coming soon, to take its place: 27 rental apartments and 3,500 square feet of new retail space. The development team behind the project – Silver Bluff Development, Abbhi Capital and Peter Gardner – are the same partners who are building the 46-unit Elemi residential development on Thomas Avenue and Margaret Street, adjacent to the Coconut Grove Farmer’s Market. The new project, which the developers are calling Elemi Phase 2, is slated to rise on the southeast corner of Grand Avenue and Elizabeth Street, on the same block and catty-corner to the first Elemi project. A construction permit is pending. “We would like to start construction by the end of the year, but it all depends on when we get the permit,” Grant Savage of Silver Bluff Development told the Spotlight. The one-story colonial revival building that fell this week was better known for the business it housed than its architecture. The Range Funeral Home was established in 1953 in Liberty City by Oscar L. and M. Athalie Range, one of Miami’s most prominent African-American families, and expanded into Coconut Grove in partnership with the Bain family. Athalie Range was the first African-American to serve on the Miami City Commission. She died in 2006. The Liberty City business is now operated by her son and grandson. Grandson Patrick Range said the Coconut Grove location was closed after the property changed hands a number of times and the building deteriorated. “Each of the new owners who would come in were development-minded, so it was a challenge,” Range said. “If it were up to us, we would still be operating at that location.” Range said the family hopes to return to the neighborhood in a new location. In the meantime, the business is still active in the community. “For all intents and purposes, we are still operating in the Grove, just without a building of our own.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with information provided by Patrick Range.
