{"id":19958,"date":"2025-10-25T05:52:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T05:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/19958\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T05:52:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T05:52:12","slug":"civic-center-redesign-aims-to-balance-plaza-upgrades-with-protection-of-public-art-key-biscayne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/19958\/","title":{"rendered":"Civic Center redesign aims to balance plaza upgrades with protection of public art | Key Biscayne"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Faded paint, cracked tiles, dried vegetation and lack of pedestrian access.<\/p>\n<p>Those are just a sampling of the aesthetic shortcomings of Key Biscayne&#8217;s Civic Center Plaza area and the Monaco Fountains, the central gathering site in the Village for events large and small.<\/p>\n<p>Now, with the assistance of a nine-member task force, a re-imagined plaza was described to Village Council members Tuesday night by Building, Zoning and Planning Director Jeremy Calleros Gauger, although he was cautioned by a couple of Art in Public Places Board members, and Council member Nancy Stoner, about infringing on Sarah Morris&#8217; original artwork.<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"image2.png\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full default\" width=\"421\" height=\"350\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>The Monaco Reflecting Pools.<\/p>\n<p>One of the bonuses for allowing Terra Group developer David Martin to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.islandernews.com\/realestate\/silver-sands-property-fetches-205m-a-record-for-key-biscayne\/article_562a0cbe-bb78-4cc0-bce1-7b60ef6a4967.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">construct a luxury condo<\/a> on the site where the Silver Sands Beach Resort once stood for nearly 70 years was that the Village would receive $300,000 toward repairs and renovations to the central plaza.<\/p>\n<p>The concept of a new plan not only covers the park and plaza, Gauger said, but it&#8217;s the entire area, including McIntyre Street and Village Green Way, or about 1.6 acres.<\/p>\n<p>Among the Tier 1 priorities: repairing artwork; leveling the street to the plaza; placing removable bollards as barriers from vehicles; and to use bollards with built-in electrical outlets for food trucks, for example, to avoid the mess of cables while also avoiding noisy generators.<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"image4.png\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full default\" width=\"421\" height=\"282\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Food trucks and vendors set up in line.<\/p>\n<p>Among the Tier 2 priorities: adding more shade (assuming trees); improve the lighting; making it pedestrian friendly (which likely will mean more pavers for easy access); and opening up the direct access from Paradise Park to Monaco Fountain.<\/p>\n<p>Among the Tier 3 priorities: providing a possible storage area closer to the site for chairs, etc.; and installing a few multi-functional posts that can connect overhead lights or decorations and even stage lighting.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The next step is to formalize the scope,&#8221; said Gauger, who would reach out to Morris and the Art in Public Places Board, and then work with designers.<\/p>\n<p>The hope is that some of the events tied to the 35th anniversary of the Village&#8217;s incorporation (June 18, 2026) could be held there as the plaza is getting a fresher look.<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"image5.png\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full default\" width=\"526\" height=\"349\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Doral&#8217;s City Place, with an umbrella roof similar to some of the modern design elements the Village plans on implementing.<\/p>\n<p>Councilman Ed London suggested holding a contest so designers could submit ideas not already discussed, a proposal agreed to by former Mayor Mike Davey. Gauger said that initial work already has been done by the task force, it&#8217;s just the scope that needs completing.<\/p>\n<p>Special events, such as WinterFest, concerts, and an annual classic car show, for example, draw quite a crowd in that area.<\/p>\n<p>Islander News contributing columnist Bill Durham said he&#8217;s been a member of the Art in Public Places Board since 2019, while Lourdes Jofre-Collett (who spoke to Council earlier) has been a member since 2004.<\/p>\n<p>Durham pointed out that the entire artwork Morris created in 2006 was not just about the day-night fountains or the marble pavers that create a unique effect, but also that the 28 palms planted even had a connection.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Her vision included the whole oval, the pavers that represent the beach, the two contemplation benches, and the 28 royal palms,\u201d Durham explained. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think we should mess with that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>If the artwork is altered, Morris&#8217; contract may allow her to remove her name from the project.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We need to protect the integrity of the artist&#8217;s work,\u201d Stoner said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Faded paint, cracked tiles, dried vegetation and lack of pedestrian access. Those are just a sampling of the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[16160,126,16161,123,125,124,13360,4991],"class_list":{"0":"post-19958","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-civic-center","9":"tag-key-biscayne","10":"tag-key-biscayne-civic-center","11":"tag-miami","12":"tag-miami-headlines","13":"tag-miami-news","14":"tag-public-art","15":"tag-redesign"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}