Protests Over Preservation Plan In Miami

Marjory Stoneman Douglas saved Florida's Everglades, but was impoverished, blind and deaf in old age. Friends seeking to help persuaded the state to buy her property for a museum, letting her stay till she died; now the state wants to sell the land.

2 minute read

December 28, 2006, 6:00 AM PST

By Christian Madera @http://www.twitter.com/cpmadera


On New Year's Eve, nearly 100 protesters calling themselves the Marching Marjorys and dressed as Marjory Stoneman Douglas did during her Everglades crusading days, will high-step in Miami's zaniest parade, the King Mango Strut. They are protesting what an increasing number of Miamians think is a strange idea. The state, which owns the 80-year-old cottage where Florida's most famous conservationist lived and died, has all but decided to chop the bungalow in two and move it from the exclusive Coconut Grove neighborhood to a more accessible garden and tourist attraction in another city. To pay for the cottage's upkeep as a museum, state officials would sell the small parcel that Douglas bought in 1925 to the highest bidder, likely making way for another of the million-dollar homes that now surround her humble home.

"It's a nutty idea," said Glenn Terry, a Grove activist and co-founder of the Mango Strut. "And to think a group of preservationists is behind it."

"It's scandalous," said William 'Toby' Muir, Douglas's personal attorney. "You can't pack history like a suitcase and carry it to another site." Muir is one of the few residents of Stewart Avenue, a narrow, winding street where Douglas wrote her classic book on the Everglades who would like her house to stay right where it is. Historic significance aside, many of Muir's neighbors have spent the last 8 years fighting what they consider a 'grandiose scheme' to turn the cottage into a museum and the adjoining parcel into a research center and office for the Land Trust of Dade County. Not surprisingly, the closer Stewart Avenue residents live to the bungalow, the louder their opposition.

"They can tear it down or move it. I don't care, as long as it's gone," said businessman Richard Grossfeld, who estate across the street is valued at nearly $1.8 million. "This is a residential street, and I do not want an influx of buses or students or an influx of any kind. Would you?"

Thanks to Sheryl Stolzenberg

Wednesday, December 27, 2006 in Sun-Sentinel

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight