Amid concerns that commercial spaces are taking over their community, a group of residents in Coconut Grove are planning how to push back against the contentious redevelopment of the historic Playhouse theater.
In April, Miami-Dade County officials confirmed that it would move forward with plans to demolish a portion of the Coconut Grove Playhouse and replace it with a smaller, modern theater and commercial space.
The move comes after nearly two decades of court battles over whether to preserve or demolish the building. The Playhouse opened in 1927 and operated until 2006. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018— one of the highest historic designations in the country.
READ MORE: After 18 years, construction on a revamped Coconut Grove Playhouse is set to begin
Under the county’s partial demolition plans, about 80% of the playhouse would be razed with the original facade being maintained. Construction on the project would continue through the 2026-2027 fiscal year.
The group, Preserve the West Grove, was formed in 2021 to address the ways that the surrounding community — the West Grove and Little Bahamas — were being affected by the pressures of gentrification on areas that were historically segregated.
“I’m concerned [with] the development that will eventually take over Charles Avenue and the Black West Grove,” said Shirley Gibson, at a group meeting last week. She was raised on Charles Avenue near the Playhouse. Gibson’s great-grandmother came to the West Grove area in 1879. “That’s my biggest concern — losing the community — because we’re just like one big family.”
Of the many new and redevelopment projects happening in the Grove, the playhouse, they believe, might have one of the biggest effects on the area.
“We’re concerned about the fabric of the community being changed through encroaching commercialization.”Courtney Berrien
Aside from the partial demolition, the county plans to turn part of the historic 11,000-seat theatre into commercial space equipped to house bars, restaurants and shops.
“It feels like right now none of us want to have huge construction going on at the end of our street," said Paul Dean Jackson. He inherited property once owned by his great-grandfather, Ebenezer Woodbury Franklin Stirrup, a pioneer of the West Grove who emigrated from the Bahamas and became one of the largest landowners in the area. “Regardless of how the community may feel about it, we’re the core central closest to it and it’s going to really impact our lives if that goes through," he said.
Jackson, like others at the meeting, would have rather see the playhouse be restored and preserved solely as a civic center.
“The community is in consensus that we’re really concerned about how the playhouse develops,“ said Courtney Berrien, one of the board members for Preserve the West Grove. “We’re concerned about the fabric of the community being changed through encroaching commercialization.”
According to the City of Miami’s municipal codes, residents within 500 feet of historic structures may be considered “intervenors,” or people who can be recognized by the historic and environmental preservation board as being able to make presentations, examine witnesses, rebut evidence and make final arguments during hearings.
This, they say, gives them standing to contest the county’s plans that were greenlit by a demolition permit issued in April by the city’s building department.
“We do not want our streets to become traffic zones for businesses that might be connected to the playhouse in one way or another,” said Berrien.
