Coral Gables board hears detailed City Hall restoration plan; bond and two-year timeline proposed

Richard J. Heisenbottle, president of RJ Heisenbottle Architects, and Ricardo Lopez, principal at the firm, presented a multi-year restoration and repair plan for Coral Gables City Hall at the Historic Preservation Board meeting.

Heisenbottle opened by placing the project in historical context and urging the board to return key exterior and landscape features to the building’s original design by 'Phineas Paste.' He described the courtyard as originally conceived as a garden space and proposed removing a mid-century auxiliary building that the team describes as 'non contributing' to restore bilateral symmetry and reinstate planted planters and improved drainage. He said removing an old septic tank in the courtyard is part of that work.

The architects summarized an extensive exterior-condition assessment that documented failures in limestone, cast stone and stucco and identified cracking and delamination at cornices and window surrounds. "We've documented the failures of limestone and stucco and the cast stone," Heisenbottle said, and the team provided drawings keyed to photos that outline the proposed repairs: localized…