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Community member highlights Coral Gables preservation work, La Palma Hotel restoration and Miracle Mile support
Summary
A Coral Gables Community Foundation board member described long-term volunteer work supporting historic preservation, a fundraising event that benefits Coral Gables High School's culinary program, and the La Palma Hotel restoration during remarks at a public meeting.
A community member and Coral Gables Community Foundation board member spoke at a meeting about long-running preservation and community projects, citing the Tour of Kitchens fundraiser, business support during the Miracle Mile streetscape project and the La Palma Hotel restoration.
The commenter, a Coral Gables resident and board member of the Coral Gables Community Foundation since 2014, said the Tour of Kitchens “lets close to a thousand people go through homes” and has raised “a couple [hundred] thousand dollars” for the Coral Gables High School culinary program, and that the event has been running for about 14 or 15 years.
The comment drew together several strands of local civic work that affect neighborhoods, small businesses and historic buildings. The speaker described efforts during the Miracle Mile streetscape construction to keep businesses visible — including pop-up art galleries and exhibitions — and highlighted a public-art effort called Illuminate Coral Gables that used lighting and illuminated pedicabs.
“I was on the business improvement district board when the Miracle Mile streetscape was going on, and it was a tough time for the businesses,” the commenter said. The speaker said those mitigation projects “were done to keep the street alive.”
The speaker also described a long-running commitment to historic preservation: eight years on the Historic Preservation Board and a particular interest in the La Palma Hotel restoration. The speaker said the hotel had been “abandoned” and “demolished more than 50%,” requiring structural reconstruction that included placing about six inches of concrete on the inside of the building’s shell to protect it from hurricanes.
“If George Merrick came back and had a conversation with me about preservation, I think he'd be happy to feel that people are guarding and maintaining his legacy,” the commenter said, adding that Coral Gables is “a great city” and expressing personal pride in the work.
Remarks took the form of a participant’s account of volunteer and preservation activities rather than a staff report or formal action; no motions or votes were recorded in the transcript excerpt.
