Coconut Grove fighting to preserve laid-back ways
Residents of Miami neighbourhood fear bohemian culture, charm at risk
With its artsy vibe, lush landscape sand free-roaming peacocks, Coconut Grove has long been known as a bohemian paradise.
It’s also Miami’s oldest neighbourhood, established along the shores of Biscayne Bay in 1873 before the city existed. Located about eight kilometres from what is now Miami’s downtown, its streets are shaded by thick canopies of trees and its housing stock includes some of Miami’s oldest homes.
The laid-back neighbourhood has even been immortalized in pop culture: a mid-1960s Lovin’ Spoonful song (Coconut Grove, later covered by David Lee Roth and Paul Weller); the late George Michael once filmed some of his video for Wham!’ s’ 80s soft-pop hit Careless Whisper there; notable fictional film/TV inhabitants included Manny Ribera (Scarface), Dexter Morgan (Dexter); while Meet the Fockers was set in what locals referred to as the Grove.
But as new architecture goes up and its business district revitalizes, Coconut Grove is at risk of losing its unique history and tropical culture. Older homes are being turned into mansions of concrete and glass. Locals are fighting to reduce the size of new construction and preserve green space.
“It’s really about neighbourhood preservation, which gets into cultural preservation,” said Christine Rupp, executive director at Dade Heritage Trust, Miami- Dade County’s largest preservation organization.
Visitors who want to sample the Grove’s history and culture might start on Charles Avenue, where settlers from the Bahamas lived in wood- frame, shotgun- style cottages.
The 40-acre (16.2-hectare) bay front Barnacle State Historic Park includes a mangrove forest and The Barnacle, the oldest home in Dade County still in its original location. The 1891 house is noted for its twostorey, three-sided veranda.
Other homes in the Grove were built in Mediterranean and Spanish styles during the early 1900s.
Coconut Grove’s waterfront is a popular destination for fishing, boating and kayaking. CocoWalk, an open-air complex, is lined with sidewalk cafés and shops.
But some local attractions are flashpoints in preservation debates. Less than a mile from the Grove’s business centre, at the corner of Plaza and Palmetto, is a city-owned wooded plot dubbed Charlie’s Woods. The quirky site has a frog figurine, handwritten signage and a short trail to a seating area. It’s named for the late Charlie Cinnamon, who founded the annual Coconut Grove Arts Festival, which takes place each February (this year, Feb. 17-19). Adjacent to the woods is Cinnamon’s tiny 1919 house, a dilapidated structure that’s caught up in a preservation battle.
Jorge Perez, one of the most influential names in Miami real estate, has called Coconut Grove home for over 35 years and says he’s committed to maintaining its historic charm. His company, The Related Group, along with The Terra Group, are behind the new Park Grove project, a 297-unit luxury condo development on the Coconut Grove waterfront. The project features three wavy towers, a restaurant and“lush landscaping that the Grove is known for ,” Perez says.
The Coconut Grove Neighborhood Conservation District has created guidelines to preserve the area’s history and landscape by protecting the tree canopy and green space along with architectural variety. And residents are promoting a Change.org petition limiting the size of new homes in single-family neighbourhoods.
That petition is supported by David Villano, who lives in a 1924 home hidden behind an oasis of plants and towering trees.
“That lush tropical paradise, unfortunately it’s fast disappearing,” Villano said.
Robert Lloyd, an architect with Perkins + Will, is working with the Coconut Grove Business Improve- ment District to create guidelines for new developments that would maintain “the DNA of the Grove” while supporting investment and growth. “The Grove has been re- discovered in the last few years,” he said. “It is a truly great place, but great places can be fragile.”