The people failed Coconut Grove Playhouse

Re the May 21 Javier Gonzalez letter, “Miami city commission should override mayor’s veto:” As I go through his letter, it states the Coconut Grove Playhouse failed financially five times in its 91-year history. The building did not fail. The people running it failed, and the last one was Arnold Mittelman, who spent $125,000 of a grant for salaries. That is just the tip of the iceberg, and the people failed.

There was no Chief Financial Officer. It is not the fault of the Playhouse; it is the people running it. Unfortunately, Gonzalez ran for District 2 and was the former chair of the Coconut Grove Village Council, which really champions businesses.

A proven theater operator is a loose term for the one that is in contention, but Michael Spring’s plan also included negative descriptions about saltwater concrete, which turned out to be false.

Gonzalez’ letter states the county has done its “due diligence by gaining the approval from city and county boards,” fortunately, the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board ruled out demolition in 2005 and again in 2017 and 2019.

Arquitectonica, which has never done anything in preservation, was selected to restore the Playhouse.

Coconut Grove, where I have lived for more than 70 years, has a very strong need for parking. Miami Parking Authority and Art Noriega received hundreds of thousands of dollars from businesses in the Grove to build a garage on the corner of Oak and Mary Street, which they promptly sold several years ago for $16 million. Where did that money go and did Grove businesses benefit? The general obligation bond of 2004-2005, as mentioned by Suarez, clearly states there is $20 million plus millions more from the city.

Donors will come forward once solidification occurs. The county has not met the milestones expected by the state under the lease agreement for the last 1-1/2 years, and all these have been dismissed.