The E.W.F. Stirrup House on May 14, 2013 |
Dateline May 14, 2013 – It’s almost a nervous tic. Anytime I am near Coconut Grove, I visit the E.W.F. Stirrup House and take new pictures.
Yesterday, after dropping a friend off at the Miami airport, I drove the 7 miles to Charles Avenue. The latest pictures reveal is that nothing has been done to the E.W.F. Stirrup House since the meeting of the Charles Avenue Historic Preservation Committee on the 27th of February. At the time I wrote:
Yesterday a crew was cleaning up the Stirrup property by removing the
vines and bushes that had grown all over the back of the house. This
blog has documented
how the property becomes an unruly garbage dump between citations from
the City of Miami. The property is always cleaned up before fines are
levied. Then it’s allowed to slowly fall into disarray until the next city inspector posts a citation
on the property about all the garbage, weeds, and graffiti. Despite
occasional landscaping, the vast Westerfield Archives has several year’s
worth of pictures that prove these bushes and vines have never been
cleared away. This was not just another minor clean-up.
Could it be that Gino Falsetto realized that eyes
would be on the E.W.F. Stirrup House again this week because of the
Charles Avenue Historic Preservation meeting? After 8 years of
inactivity, is it possible that Falsetto wants to be able to say at
Wednesday’s meeting “Things are happening,” only to let it slid into
disarray until the next time it gets cleaned up?
The E.W.F. Stirrup House on May 14th, showing the damage caused by the last cleanup |
I must be The Amazing Kreskin. What I predicted came to pass at the Charles Avenue Historical Preservation Committee meeting when an angry reporter (me) wondered why nothing had been done to the property in the 8 years Falsetto has had effective control of it. The representative of Gino Falsetto on the preservation committee jumped in by citing all the recent landscaping work that had been done. As I was about to ask a follow-up, and point out that the recent landscaping had actually damaged the side of the house, the chair of the meeting shut me down by saying the committee was looking forward, not backward. Since I was merely an invited meeting observer, and not a member of the committee, I held my tongue. However, I was angry that 8 years of neglect was being swept under the rug.
Still Life With Dishwashers, May 8, 2013 |
I must be The Amazing Kreskin. Another part of my prediction has also come to pass. Absolutely nothing’s been done since that meeting. Well, that’s not entirely true. Someone finally figured out how to close the lower windows on the side of the house. This is actual progress, since they have been open to the elements for many years. However, that’s it!!! The upper windows are still open to the daily Florida rainstorm.
I must be The Amazing Kreskin. The third part of my prediction has also come to fruition: the property has, once again, slid back into being a garbage dump. A seemingly never-ending series of dumpsters come and go. Last week it was filled with several dishwashers, clearly the result of a renovation inside the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums. However, there’s no telling where and what the work might be because, as usual, I can find no building permits displayed anywhere. However, it’s safe to assume that it’s one of Gino Falsetto’s restaurants on the ground floor of the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums. He has three: The Taurus Bar, Calamari, and La Bottega by Carmen Trigueros. That’s right! Chef Carmen’s got her name right in the name of the restaurant for added pretentiousness.
Meanwhile, where are the promised renovations for the E.W.F. Stirrup House? Gino Falsetto has had more than 8 years to do something, ANYTHING, to the E.W.F. Stirrup House. It’s time for the community to rise up and find a way to abrogate the 50-year lease Gino Falsetto holds on the E.W.F. Stirrup property. He’s shown himself to be a terrible steward of a precious 120-year old Coconut Grove historical resource. He continues to allow the house to undergo Demolition by Neglect.
Those who allowed him to get his rapacious hands on this family heirloom need to find a way to get it back in order to honour the legacy of E.W.F. Stirrup and the original Bahamians who built Coconut Grove.
The only legacy being honoured today is that of rapacious developers. Might as well put up a statue to Gino Falsetto because, according to this website, he is the Master of everything at the east end of Charles Avenue and wants to create his own legacy, Le Coco Suprême. According to this anonymous author, who links to my blog quite often:
This monster complex — dubbed Le Coco Suprême — will be the largest multi-use condominium complex in all of Florida: a 5.6 acre multi-use condo complex, the biggest Heafey and Falsetto have ever carried out here and in Canada. They want it to be their crowning achievement. It will dwarf what Heafey has done in Quebec. (In comparison, Cocowalk within walking distance up the street is 2.18 acres.)
The plan entails a 960-unit residential condo, a 360-room hotel, 200,000 sq.ft. retail space, 4 restaurants, a movie-theater complex, a gym, a bowling alley or ice skating rink, 3,800 space high-rise garage to also serve the downtown Grove, a bank (Regions), a Bed & Breakfast in the E.W.F. Stirrup House, a remodeled, brand-new miniature Goconut Grove Playhouse, and the current Grove Garden Residences multi-use condo complex. A bridge over Charles Avenue will connect everything. The high-rise garage will be on the north side (closest to downtown for access to all Coconut Grove downtown visitors) with an arcade of shops at street level facing Main Highway.
If that’s true one of the few things standing in the way of his plan to erect another MONSTER condo complex, is the E.W.F. Stirrup House.
Dear Headly,
I am staying at 3250 Charles Ave and just finished reading your entire series about this neighborhood. Thank you for all your important work. Ironically, considering the potential fate of the E.W.F. Stirrup House, I found this place through Airbnb. So really, another B&B isn't needed. If you ever want an extended stay here, I recommend it highly. Cynthia, even though she has been out of town, has been incredibly responsive and kind. (You can find her profile on airbnb.com by browsing the listings in Coconut Grove. I am "stuck" in Miami because of the crash at SFO yesterday, and I wanted a more local experience than I would get staying at La Quinta Airport Inn for two days. With Cynthia's house, this neighborhood, and your blog posts, I couldn't have hoped for more. After reading your unfolding investigative story, I took a walk out to Douglas and then up to Grand and back around to Main. I didn't even have to read the signs, since I had read all of them on your blog. The contrast is indeed incredible. Even at 3250, mere yards from Main, it feels like a different universe. Anyway, you definitely made me invested in the fate of the Stirrup House. I will be following the story from San Francisco.
Keep up the effort!
Stephen
Thanks Stephen.
Please pass the word about this beautiful house and the legacy of E.W.F. Stirrup.
Will do. By the way, saw two locksmiths putting in locks today on the house. Sorry I didn't get a photo for you. But when you come back, you will see the shiny new locks on all the doors. I guess they will no longer need the "Beware of Dog" sign!
Cheers,
Stephen