Coral Gables clears path for religious garden to be wiped out, replaced by apartment building

Preservationists’ prayers to save a religious-themed garden in Coral Gables went unanswered, paving the way for the garden, adjacent church and a school to be leveled and replaced by a 10-story luxury apartment building.

Coral Gables Historic Preservation Board rejected by a 6-2 vote Wednesday to deem historic The Garden of Our Lord at 110 Phoenetia Ave. The garden’s history traces to 1951, after it was commissioned by the St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church. It is the product of architect Robert F. Smith, the same mastermind behind some structures at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and the Doc Thomas House, an Old Florida relic and home of Indiana transplant and South Miami pioneer and pharmacist Arden Hayes “Doc” Thomas, who operated a drugstore in the Gables in the 1920s.

According to the garden’s history, many of its trees and shrubs were grown from seeds brought back from the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem in the early 1950s by Hazel Westby. At the time, Westby was a professor at the University of Miami and a Coral Gables resident. Westby is said to have been on leave from the university to teach at American University in Beirut when she acquired the seeds. Today, because of the seeds she brought home, many trees in the garden date back over 2,000 years to the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.

The church was considered for historic designation in July 2021, but, in the city preservation board’s view, it failed to meet the criteria needed. Century Homebuilders then stepped in and bought the property from the church in November 2021 for $9.8 million. The developer submitted a comprehensive plan map and site plan in January 2022.

“If we do a designation, we have to designate everything within that property,” said Michael Maxwell, a member of the preservation board, noting the buildings fail to meet historic designation criteria.

Century, a Coral Gables development firm, early last year told city officials it wanted to remake the 1.5-acre property, which includes the garden, the now-closed St. James church and the behavioral therapy school Crystal Academy for kids with autism, and build 200 apartments there. The site is steps from the Coral Gables Woman’s Club.

The developer apparently has promised Crystal Academy some space on the property, according to the firm’s website and comments made Wednesday during the historic review board meeting by people affiliated with the school.

The planned residential development on Phoenetia Avenue will align the property with the original vision of Coral Gables founder George Merrick, one factor that persuaded some historic preservation board members to vote against preservation of the site of the garden, church and school. Original plans for the city included how Merrick intended for that block of Phoenetia to be homes rather than a park.

A Miami Herald reporter couldn’t reach a Century Homebuilders representative Thursday to, among other things, give a timetable for the apartment building construction and completion.

Coral Gables resident Bonnie Bolton, daughter of the late feminist and civil rights activist Roxcy Bolton, made the application in December to the board to preserve the garden, or 20% of the property. Bolton asserted during Wednesday’s meeting that the garden deserved preservation for several reasons, including being designed by Smith. She and other residents favoring historic designation wanted to preserve the garden because it is “sacred space,” and have the developer build around that part of the property.

“The Garden of our Lord exceeds the city’s criteria for historic designation, culture and history. We’ve applied under nine different criteria when only one is necessary,” Bolton told board members Wednesday.

Several board members urged the developer and preservationists should continue conversations and see if statues and plaques commemorating veterans can be saved from the garden.