Spotlight 198-260410

Good morning. What we’re covering in today’s Spotlight:

The Sailing Club’s Moonlight Racing Program
A Legal Setback for Playhouse Preservationists
The Return of the Grove Theatre Fest
Where We’ll Be: An Event Guide for Grovites

Moonlight Sailing on Biscayne Bay

Spotlight reporter and self-confessed landlubber Jenny Jacoby set sail this month with the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, getting her feet wet on a sailboat for the first time as a volunteer with the club’s Moonlight Racing program.

By Jenny Jacoby

All was emphatically not calm on Biscayne Bay as I headed out for my first-ever sailing experience on a recent Friday evening this month. A small craft advisory had been issued and 20-knot winds were ripping the bay.

This is going to be fun, I thought to myself as I rode out to meet my sailing companions for the night. I was joining the Mystique, a 26-foot sailboat, as a volunteer crew member for one of the Coconut Grove Sailing Club’s Moonlight Racing events.

The program – which introduces casual sailors to competitive sailing – takes place every month on the Friday closest to the full moon. It’s one of several initiatives sponsored by the club as part of its mission to get “butts in boats on the bay.”

County Prevails in Playhouse Lawsuit

Local preservationists who oppose Miami-Dade County’s plan to revive the historic playhouse as a smaller theater with shops, restaurants and parking lost another round in court this week when a judge dismissed their lawsuit against the county.

By Don Finefrock

A Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge has dismissed the lawsuit that preservationists filed last year in a last-ditch effort to block the demolition, renovation, and reconstruction of the landmark Coconut Grove Playhouse on Main Highway.

Circuit Court Judge Mavel Ruiz dismissed the lawsuit this week with prejudice, meaning the litigation cannot be amended and refiled.

The judge’s ruling removes one of the last remaining hurdles standing between Miami-Dade County and its goal of reopening the playhouse as a 300-seat venue with a resident theater company in 2027 – the 100^th anniversary of the original playhouse.

Take a Seat: The Grove Theatre Fest is Back for a 2nd Year

The Coconut Grove Theatre Festival returns next week with a fresh lineup of original plays performed over four days, including two plays written for children and presented back-to-back in a Saturday afternoon matinee performance.

By Liz Tracy

When playwright Lori Felipe-Barkin was a high-school student in South Florida, a hurricane knocked out the power in her house. Bored, she sat down and wrote her first play. The effort didn’t go unnoticed. The play won an award.

Today, Felipe-Barkin is living in New York and still writing, with a strong connection to South Florida. Strong enough, in fact, to give her new play “Ama. Egg. Oyá.” a featured spot in this year’s Coconut Grove Theatre Festival.

Commission Amends Density Transfer Ordinance to Exclude NCDs

The Miami City Commission agreed Thursday to insulate Coconut Grove from a proposed expansion of a program that allows developers to transfer density credits from affordable housing projects in certain neighborhoods to market-rate and luxury projects elsewhere in the city. The ordinance was amended on first reading to exclude the city’s Neighborhood Conservation Districts (NCDs), which include Coconut Grove. Miami District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo proposed the change. Fifteen people, almost all Coconut Grove residents, spoke against the expansion on Thursday, with many asking the commission to exempt NCDs. Residents feared the proposed expansion would supercharge development, especially in the Grove. “We would like to guard against overdevelopment and displacement,” said Carolyn Donaldson, vice chair of GRACE (Grove Rights and Community Equity), told the commission. “We are not opposed to development, but it must be responsible (and) balanced.”

Pardo Responds to Question about Fate of City Hall

The fate of the Pan Am seaplane terminal at Dinner Key has been a topic of concern for Grove residents since late last month when the Miami Herald published a story saying the City of Miami planned to move City Hall to Freedom Park in 2028. (The Spotlight published a similar story in 2024.) Miami District 2 Damian Pardo was asked this week what will happen to the historic terminal once the new City Hall opens near Miami International Airport.

In response, Pardo said the future use of the building has not been decided. “Obviously, we are not anywhere near finalizing anything on City Hall. So, the reports (that) we are moving and it’s done, that’s all really premature. Very premature,” he said.

Pardo also suggested the terminal may continue to house commission offices and host meetings in the space where the commission currently meets.

Where We’ll Be – A Grovite’s Calendar

Theater, film, poetry—and rabbits?

It’s festival season in the Grove — O, Miami poetry sparks the creative mind, the Miami Film Festival is picking up speed, and the Coconut Grove Theatre Festival is busy giving birth to new works and… rabbits? Inspiration seems to hop in from all directions to the minds of the CGTFest’s playwrights. You can’t go wrong, so embrace the variety. At a minimum, you’ll have some one-of-a-kind stories to tell.