A Vote of Support for City Hall in Coconut Grove

The Miami City Commission voted 4-to-1 on Thursday to keep City Hall in Coconut Grove rather than move the city’s center of gravity next year to Miami Freedom Park near Miami International Airport.

The Miami City Commission on Thursday approved a resolution that would keep Miami City Hall at the historic Pan Am seaplane terminal in Coconut Grove, easing fears that the iconic building would be lost to development next year when the city moves most of its employees into a new administrative building near the airport. 

The show of support for Miami’s historic City Hall was expected after a news conference earlier in the day, when four of the city’s five commissioners endorsed the resolution, which was sponsored by Miami District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo. 

“This is our modern public square. It is the civic heart of our city,” Pardo said before the start of Thursday’s meeting. “Miami has seen what happens to historic properties when public stewardship is lost.”

The resolution directs the city manager to continue to utilize the 1934 building as the principal location for the Miami City Commission and its public meetings. The city acquired the building in 1946 and made it the seat of city government in 1954.

Read more: As Competing Visions Emerge, Commission to Weigh Future of City Hall

The resolution passed by a vote of 4-to-1, with Miami District 1 Commissioner Miguel Gabela voting no. Gabela said he was concerned about the additional expense of maintaining two meeting spaces for the commission. The new administrative building will include a commission chamber. 

Gabela also said he was offended by the suggestion that Coconut Grove was a more convenient – and appealing – location than Miami Freedom Park, which is in his district and where most city employees will report for work.

The resolution is binding, but could be reversed by a future vote of the commission. 

In other action Thursday, the City Commission:

• Directed the city manager to allocate $10.2 million for capital improvements at the city’s aging fire stations. The money would be reimbursed by the city’s proposed $450 million public safety bond program, if that program is approved by voters in November. The directive was sponsored by Pardo, who argued that it was in the best interest of residents to start the improvements now, instead of waiting for voters to approve the bond program. 

• Agreed to allow a developer to remove a mature oak tree from a residential lot on Irvington Avenue in the South Grove, over the nearly unanimous opposition of neighbors, and despite uncertainty about the health of the tree. The vote was 3-to-2, with Commissioners Pardo and Christine King voting no.