The brick footpath, a popular shortcut that connects the West Grove and South Grove neighborhoods, was closed temporarily at the start of the school year to accommodate a residential construction project.
A brick footpath that spans the historic divide between the predominantly Black West Grove and the more affluent South Grove has reopened, reconnecting two neighborhoods that were deliberately separated during a time of segregation.
The popular shortcut was closed in August and the brick pathway was dug up to accommodate a residential construction project next door on Loquat Avenue.
The timing proved to be unfortunate. Parents who had planned to use the pathway to avoid rush hour traffic while shuttling their kids to school were surprised to learn that the route was blocked just days before classes began.
Neighbors suspected the worst, and said so on social media, but the closure turned out to be temporary. Construction workers dug a trench and laid a sewer pipe to connect the new house on Loquat to the county’s sanitary sewer system.
The overgrown footpath, a refuge for stray cats, connects Marler Avenue in the West Grove with Loquat Avenue in the South Grove, filling a missing gap in Plaza Street.
Now that the brick pathway has been restored, the office of District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo is promising to tidy up the passageway, install and service a trash receptable, and bring in a City of Miami arborist to suggest landscape improvements.
“The next and final steps are site improvements,” Javier Gonzalez, the District 2 liaison for Coconut Grove, told neighbors by email earlier this week. “We will continue to monitor the passageway’s completion and will update accordingly.”
