COCONUT GROVE — Two of Coconut Grove’s most familiar public spaces are headed for a transformation. The final design for a $5 million makeover of Kirk Munroe Park and neighboring Fuller Street is moving forward, promising new places to play, lush landscaping and a more walkable corridor in the heart of the Grove, Miami Today reported this month.
Miami commissioners approved the final plans on June 25, clearing the way toward construction, according to the Coconut Grove Spotlight. The project pairs $3 million in city funding with $2 million from the developer of the adjacent Ziggurat project, which will oversee construction.
The partnership dates to January, when the city and the Allen Morris Company agreed to join forces on the park’s redesign, Miami Today reported. Oppenheim Architecture designed the plan, which went through multiple rounds of input from residents and community stakeholders.
A Great Lawn at the Center
At the heart of the redesigned park, the plan calls for a roughly 6,500-square-foot “Great Lawn” — about the size of a baseball diamond — anchored by an open-air pavilion with tiered seating, according to the Spotlight. An elevated stage at one end of the lawn would create a neighborhood performance space, with water features placed throughout the park.
Other additions include two butterfly gardens and keystone pathways. Existing amenities that Grove families have used for decades — the hitting wall, playground and fitness area — will be clustered and enhanced on the park’s western flank rather than removed, the Spotlight reported.
Fuller Street, the short block connecting the park area to the Grove’s commercial core, is slated for its own overhaul with pedestrian paseos designed to make the corridor more walkable, according to Miami New Times.
The arrangement — a private developer funding and building improvements to an adjacent public park — has drawn attention as a model other Miami neighborhoods may see repeated as the city looks to stretch its parks budget. City officials have said community input shaped the final design, which preserves the park’s role as a gathering place named for the author and pioneer resident Kirk Munroe.
Construction timelines will be finalized as permits are issued, with the developer managing the build-out under the city’s approval.
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