By Ellen J. Uguccioni
Ellen J. Uguccioni was the first director of the City of Coral Gables Historic Preservation Department.

This commanding, iconic building transcends its role as the seat of city government. The Coral Gables City Hall was one of the last pieces in the creation of this model city, built at the zenith of its development. Its deliberate placement, on a roughly triangular parcel flanked by streets laid out on a diagonal, announced its presence before one’s arrival.

I was struck by the horribly degraded condition of the stone (limestone, keystone) and the number of patches and repairs and that have occurred over the years. Many of the spaces inside had been outfitted for new purposes to accommodate departments, offices and address privacy concerns. It made sense then, in making city services available there.

The structural instability of the columns of the hemicycle that face Miracle Mile is frightening. The building has been adapted over the years to serve a larger population with a greater number of staff to serve them. During those adaptations, I don’t think anyone was particularly thinking about the building’s resounding historic and architectural value but rather, in expanding its functions. The same could be said of the Biltmore Hotel’s conversion from a work of art into an Army-Air Force Regional Hospital. Expediency and a national crisis negated careful consideration.

I don’t find blame or attach shame in the expedited changes that occurred. After all, history is only regarded after enough time has passed to allow us perspective. I had the privilege of occupying space in the City Hall for more than a decade, and I always was aware of the grand, balustraded staircase leading from the ground to the ceremonial chambers where history played out.  I often looked up at the tower ceiling painting, admiring the composition and color, but never really thinking about how it has weathered countless rains and storms.

In the more recent past there have been ongoing threats to the larger City Hall campus.  One proposal suggested an overwhelming addition to the building and the encroachment of the park across from the building, demolishing it and changing traffic flow so whatever bucolic elements present were destroyed.

While the intent was to locate every city service into one convenient place, the effect on the original vision was for that moment, considered of lesser importance and the willingness to destroy this sacred space was breathtaking. 

We have learned so much about the quality and character of historic spaces while continually changing as our lives play out in the present.  The need for housing and services has never been more acute or the challenges greater. The rehabilitation of the Coral Gables City Hall is a welcome relief which allows us to catch our collective breaths, and admire a vision borne of another place in time. Not idyllic, but purposeful, establishing “ground zero” in an opportunity to retain this special place at a unique time.

Congratulations to the City of Coral Gables leadership, its lead designers and craftsmen and to its residents. Your demonstration of conservatorship should be noted globally.

In addition to being the first director of the Coral Gables’ Historic Preservation Department, Uguccioni is also a past president of The Villagers. She served on the Florida Historical Preservation Commission in Tallahassee for 12 years, serving as the Architectural Historian member, appointed by both the Secretary of State and the Governor. Uguccioni was one of the founders of the Coral Gables Historic Preservation Association, a lecturer at the University of Miami’s School of Architecture and a member of the Board of History Miami. She was named a Trustee Emerita by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and was awarded its Lifetime Achievement Award. Uguccioni is the author of numerous books, including “The Biltmore Hotel: An Enduring Legacy” and “Coral Gables: Miami Riviera: An Architectural Guide”