With the 1926 theater at risk of collapse, construction workers have been tasked with stabilizing the structure’s exterior walls.
Construction crews were at work over the weekend at the Coconut Grove Playhouse after the theater’s third floor fell in last week, putting the entire structure at risk of collapse. Workers have been tasked with bracing the exterior walls of the 1926 theater to prevent them from toppling over. Main Highway remained closed to cars over the long holiday weekend (the street was reopened on Tuesday), but pedestrians were drawn to the site, out of curiosity and perhaps in tribute to a landmark that some fear may be lost. Here are some photos from the scene:
This is embarrassing. So many of us could say, I told you so. The lack of care and consideration for history, the exploitation of public goods, and the sheer hubris of the County and Arquitectonica from the very beginning was glaringly apparent at that first HEP Board meeting where they presented their ‘massing’ proposal, which was just a whole bunch of white blobs representing retail, parking, offices and residential units. You couldn’t even see where the actual Playhouse was going!
That led two of us to sue the County to stop the demolition. What has happened since has been a slow march towards exactly where we are now. Now everyone is surprised, including this publication. How everyone got snowed, I have no idea. We have been screaming it from the rooftops. I swear I feel like Cassandra these days, knowing what is going to happen, trying to warn everyone and having them stare at me with blank expressions and offer excuses for whatever agenda is being peddled. When is quality of life going to take precedence over greed and carelessness?