CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Coral Gables resident Bonnie Bolton has been advocating for years to save a historic garden in the city.
“I’ve been fighting to save the Garden of our Lord and a 200-year-old tree for four years,” she said.
Undeterred by a series of setbacks to appeal the city’s 2023 Board of Architects decision to green-light a proposed nine-story mixed-use development project, which includes residential units, school use space and so-called “live-work” units, her preservation fight was heard by the full city commission on Tuesday.
“It’s kind of the final countdown here with the city,” Bolton said. “And it’s probably one of the last opportunities that residents will have to speak out against the project. Eventually, there will be a zoning segment of this potentially, but for right now, this is kind of the last opportunity that residents and I will have to speak to the city leadership about it.”
A motion by Commissioner Melissa Castro that was seconded by Ariel Fernandez would have overridden the decision by the special masters that would essentially lead to the project losing its design approval.
Ultimately, commissioners voted 3-2 to uphold the design approval for the development project, with only Castro and Fernandez casting ballots to override the decision.
Bolton says nestled behind the foliage are plants mentioned in the Bible that were rooted there decades ago, earning it the designation of a biblical garden. Along the garden’s interiors are plaques, tributes to war heroes in what one plaque on its exterior wall describes as a “hallowed spot.”
The garden was designed by famed architect Robert Fitch Smith.
“We’re fighting because there are people memorialized in the Garden of our Lord who gave their lives fighting for America, especially during World War II, great heroes that sacrificed their lives for a country,” she said.
Previously, Coral Gables Historic Preservation Officer Warren Adams told Historic Preservation Board members that he doesn’t think it meets the minimum eligibility criteria for designation as a local historic landmark.
Bolton said she thinks the city should purchase the parcel for its residents in order to safeguard the green space that includes the land’s stately trees, the garden’s coral rock features and the community’s decades-long history there.
Bolton says she now plans to take her fight to the courts after the city commission’s decision did not go her way.
“Well, if today I lose before the city commission, the next stop will be the courts,” she said. “I’m going to file an appeal of the city’s decision. We already have some basis to do that.”
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