MIAMI – Local 10 News viewer Lucero Escobar contacted the "Call Christina" hotline after a recent visit to Miami's Vizcaya Museum & Gardens.
Escobar has memories of Vizcaya that date back to her childhood.
"This is not the Vizcaya that I think a lot of us have in our minds," Escobar said.
The mansion, built by industrialist James Deering in 1916, is nearing its centennial year. After her most recent visit to Vizcaya, Escobar was concerned about the Italian-inspired mansion's current physical condition.
According to Escobar, there is damage that may never be able to be repaired.
"There are things that are antiquities, things that cannot be replaced," Escobar said. "Things that are going to be damaged and gone."
Local 10 News investigative reporter Christina Vazquez brought her concerns to deputy director for museum facilities Chris Roddy.
He explained the renovation projects are underway.
The Miami-Dade County Building Better Communities General Obligation bond and other fundraising efforts have allocated $50 million toward preservation of the Miami treasure.
Given the size of the property and proximity to the ocean, Roddy explained how Vizcaya is always under the constant threat of erosion. Renovation projects targeting specific areas cycle through a calendar year.
This summer, the focus is on the structural integrity of the Entrance Loggia, Enclosed Loggia and East Loggia.
Nearly $900,000 will be invested in restoring structural columns and archways. The stately stained-glass doors will also undergo repair.
"We are doing work here at Vizcaya," Roddy said. "There's definitely more work than there are resources that we have at the moment, so we do need to prioritize what we're working on."
Escobar shared cellphone pictures of what appeared to be a damaged ceiling panel.
"This is just heartbreaking to me," Escobar said.
The panel is part of the casino ceiling and, it turns out, is the subject of yet another restoration project currently underway. A reproduction of the panel will be installed in the next two or three months while the original, damaged by water, heat, and humidity, is restored.
In the tradition of the Italian Renaissance, the casino, or house in miniature, offered a place for relaxation away from the formality of the main house. Guests could enjoy tea in the two rooms, decorated in the mid-18th-century style.
The center panel of the loggia ceiling is the work of Paul Thevanez, (1891-1921) and the border is from the studio of Gianbattista Tiepolo (1696-1770). The loggia was designed to provide vistas of the formal gardens and the main house to the north and lush tropical islands connected by decorative bridges to the south. The south garden is no longer part of the estate.
Also in the works is a new air chiller and modifications to its present cooling system.
Roddy said it is nice to have concerned visitors.
"If they didn't care, we'd be worried," Roddy said. "It's a wonderful thing to have a community invested in a place like this."
This summer's masonry restoration efforts are scheduled to be complete on Oct. 15.
Click here for more information about past and present restoration projects at Vizcaya.
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