By Coral Gables Gazette staff
Almost exactly one year after opposing the replacement of Coral Gables City Hall’s original wood windows, the city’s Historic Preservation Board is pressing to save another historic feature of the landmark building: its six original exterior wood doors.
This time, board members said, the city still has room to change course.
The unanimous recommendation came during the board’s July 16 meeting, after Chair Michael Maxwell requested an update from Historic Resources and Cultural Arts Director Anna Pernas on the long-awaited City Hall renovation project and specifically asked about the status of the building’s original windows and doors.
The city’s renovation plans have long called for replacing the original exterior doors with impact-rated wood product doors. But board members urged the city to reconsider that piece of the project, arguing that the doors can be restored and protected during hurricanes without sacrificing their historic character.
A chair still fighting for the windows
Maxwell, who was among the most outspoken opponents of replacing the building’s original wood windows with steel-framed units last summer, also asked whether the city could preserve representative examples of the original windows removed during construction.
“I’d like to see at least one of each kind preserved,” Maxwell said, explaining that the original windows could someday serve as templates if the steel replacements deteriorate. “When the steel rusts out, which it will — I don’t care what kind of coating you have on it — we can replace the windows as they should be.”
Pernas said the City Commission has already approved replacing the windows, meaning current discussions are focused on implementation rather than whether the originals will remain in place.
The doors, however, are different. Unlike the window issue, which involved dozens of openings throughout the building and a commission decision already made, the exterior doors remain a secondary design matter that board members believe could still be modified before construction begins.
Board presses to restore, not replace, the doors
When Pernas told the board the current renovation plan still calls for replacing the original doors with impact-rated wood product doors, board member Dona Spain reacted immediately.
“Oh my God,” Spain said.
Spain argued the issue goes beyond preserving original material. The doors, she said, are part of the historic experience of entering City Hall.
“There is something very elegant about an in-swinging door,” Spain said.
Pernas told the board she has consistently advocated for restoring the original doors and intends to continue doing so. She said the door question had largely taken a back seat to the more contentious debate over the windows, but that the practical challenge is smaller.
“I’ve pushed multiple times,” Pernas said, adding that, unlike the windows, there are only six exterior door openings to address.
Pernas said the doors could be protected with hurricane shutters, Kevlar screening systems or other storm-protection measures when hurricanes threaten, eliminating the need to replace them solely for impact protection.
“There are options out there,” she said.
Spain then made a motion asking city staff to retain, restore and reuse all of City Hall’s original exterior doors, including those leading onto the building’s balcony. The motion passed unanimously.
A decision still open before construction
Pernas said she would relay the board’s recommendation to the project team.
The vote does not overturn the renovation plans by itself, but it gives preservation board members a formal position before construction begins. Their argument is that the doors present a narrower and more manageable preservation question than the windows did — and one where storm protection and historic restoration can coexist.
The distinction gives the board’s recommendation practical stakes. The window decision has already been made. The door decision, board members suggested, may still be changed.
Where the renovation stands
Beyond the discussion over windows and doors, Pernas told board members the overall City Hall restoration project continues moving forward.
She said approximately 75 percent of the construction documents have been completed, with the full set expected to be finished soon. City staff are also beginning an inventory and relocation of City Hall’s historic furniture so it can be safely stored during construction and returned once the project is complete.
Pernas said the city expects to obtain the necessary permits in the coming months, with major construction anticipated to begin this fall. The restoration is expected to take approximately three years.
The update comes one year after the City Commission voted to replace City Hall’s original wood windows with steel-framed impact-resistant windows despite unanimous opposition from the Historic Preservation Board, preservation advocates and city preservation staff, who argued the original windows could be restored while maintaining the building’s historic integrity.
Now, with construction approaching, the board is asking the city to preserve what remains possible: the original doors through which generations of residents have entered City Hall.
