Could the Election Decide the Fate of the Playhouse?

Opponents of a county plan to save the Coconut Grove Playhouse by demolishing its auditorium say its fate may turn on next week’s election.

Madison Uva was an elementary school student at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School when the Coconut Grove Playhouse shut its doors a final time in April 2006.

Today she’s a 30-year-old pre-K teacher at the school who passes the abandoned building on Main Highway every morning on her way into work. 

“I always look at it and think, what a shame,” Uva told the Spotlight. “I’m just shocked that nothing has happened.”

Local politicians, preservationists and residents have been fighting for years over the fate of the playhouse. As frustrating as that might be, Uva isn’t ready to give up on the landmark theater that was once at the center of Coconut Grove’s cultural life.

“Right now, it’s a crappy old building, but with the hope and dream of something (better) that could be so cool,” Uva says. “I just feel like… DO SOMETHING!”

The two candidates running to represent Coconut Grove on the Miami-Dade County Commission agree that something needs to be done.

They just can’t agree on what that “something” is. 

Miami-Dade District 7 Commissioner Raquel Regalado supports the county’s plan to preserve and restore the playhouse’s distinctive front building, demolish the rear auditorium, and build a new 300-seat theater with an adjacent parking garage, street-level retail shops and a pedestrian walkway. 

Her challenger, Cindy Lerner, thinks that plan is deeply flawed, as do preservationists who object to the demolition and who have gone to court to block the county’s plan.

Opponents say the county has not received necessary approvals from the Florida Division of Historic Resources, which owns the property. They also say the county plan would turn the playhouse into a “shopping mall” and threaten its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. 

The litigation has left the landmark in limbo for 18 years, delaying but not defeating the county’s plan. Now, those same opponents are hoping that the November 5 election will help to resolve the deadlock – in their favor.

“In my mind, it really comes down to the election because we can put an end to it right now,’ said David Winker, the attorney has led the fight to stop the partial demolition.

“If residents will just go out and vote, you know, we can have a situation where we can have what the residents want, which, I think, is two things,” he said. “Yes, they want to preserve (the playhouse) but they also want it done. It’s been too long. Everyone is tired of looking at it.”

As tired as everyone might be, Winker said he plans to continue the legal fight, if next week’s election fails to move the needle.

“There’s still a lot of runway left on this thing,” he told the Spotlight.

Regalado said she’s eager to end the litigation and move forward with the county’s plan. 

“It will be wonderful for Coconut Grove and everyone will be happy,” she said. “The majority of Grovites just want the playhouse open. They just want this done.”

Regalado’s opponent, Cindy Lerner, says the county can do better. 

Lerner said she will seek to revisit and revise the county’s plan for the playhouse with the goal of restoring the playhouse as a regional theater with at least 600 seats.

“I think the county’s plan is flawed for several reasons,” Lerner told the Spotlight. And, she said, “I think there is an opportunity to turn it around.”

Lerner wants the county to undertake a new feasibility study, and she wants to take a fresh look at the condition of the building, which has been shuttered since 2006. Lerner accuses the county of practicing “demolition by neglect.”

“I cannot say the entire structure should be restored, that is dependent on getting back in there and seeing what is restorable and what isn’t,” she said.

Lerner describes the project as one of her top priorities, and said she would be focused on the project from day one, if elected. “There is certainly an urgency to moving the project forward,” she said. “How we get there is not completely set in stone.”

Regalado doesn’t think a larger theater makes sense, given its location and the county’s current cultural landscape. 

Traffic to and from a larger playhouse would be a nightmare, she says, and the playhouse would have to compete to fill seats with the Arsht Center downtown.

Regalado also doubts Lerner could win the support of Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and her fellow commissioners to deliver on her promise. 

“She won’t be able to get the votes,” Regalado said.

Regalado says the county plan represents the best path forward, despite the opposition, but others wonder if there’s not some room to compromise.

“We’ve got a failure of leadership, both in the city and the county. There needs to be a coming together moment,” says Andy Parrish, a Coconut Grove resident and vice chair of the city’s Planning Zoning and Appeals Board.

“I think there is a middle ground where everyone would say, yeh, I can live with that,” he adds. “As long as we keep it on the national historic register and we get a decent sized theater, and we don’t have commercial intrusion into the West Grove, I think there’s something for everybody.”

Uva shares Parrish’s concern about the commercial aspects of the county’s plan.

“Part of the reason Coconut Grove is so quaint and magical is because it’s not as developed as Brickell,” she says.

And, like Parrish, she thinks there’s room for compromise. 

“I would go for the middle ground.”