City Hall is staying in Coconut Grove.

The Miami City Commission voted 4-1 on Thursday, Sept. 10, to keep holding its regular meetings at the former Pan American Airways seaplane terminal at 3500 Pan American Drive, rejecting a move to a new administrative building under construction near Miami Freedom Park. The resolution, sponsored by District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo, directs the city manager to continue using the waterfront building as the commission's principal meeting place.

The vote keeps the neighborhood's most prominent public building in active civic use. A new city administrative complex near Miami Freedom Park is expected to open by 2028 and will include its own commission chamber, WSVN reported. Without the resolution, commission meetings could have shifted there permanently.

District 1 Commissioner Miguel Gabela cast the lone no vote. Gabela said he was concerned about the added expense of maintaining two meeting spaces. He also said he was offended by the suggestion that Coconut Grove was a more convenient location than Miami Freedom Park, which sits in his district, according to the Coconut Grove Spotlight.

Commissioners Pardo, Rafael Rosado (District 4) and Christine King (District 5) voted yes. One additional commissioner voted in favor but was not named in meeting coverage.

"This is the people's place, where they come to speak and we want to make sure we honor that, where global leaders would come … There is nothing to replace this," Pardo said at the meeting, as reported by WPLG Local 10.

Pardo said the building costs $295,000 a year to maintain, which he called "not a big weight on the budget."

The resolution is binding but could be reversed by a future commission vote.

Museum of Miami pitches 'civic campus'

The vote also opened the door to a new use for the site. Natalia Curjeiras, CEO of the Museum of Miami, presented what she called a "very, very preliminary" plan to build a museum adjacent to the terminal. She described the concept as a "civic campus" where residents could attend commission meetings, learn local history and walk along the bay.

Curjeiras said any new museum structure would be built at a scale that keeps the Pan Am terminal as the visual focus. She told commissioners the museum would present a formal statement of intent to the city to begin next steps.

Pardo said the city also received a pitch from a group starting a new Pan American Airways that expressed interest in using the space. He said the biggest criterion for any public-private partnership would be financial viability.

Preservation advocates speak at meeting

The meeting drew preservation advocates and former officials. Former Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado attended in support of the resolution.

Suzanne Howland, granddaughter of Fred Howland of Fred Howland Construction Company, the firm that built the structure, called for the building's preservation. She also raised concerns that an adjacent museum building could obstruct the setting.

Renovation architect Richard Heisenbottle, who worked on the building's restoration, said the structure "was in quite a bit of disarray" about 10 years ago before crews uncovered original interior designs from the Pan Am era by the firm Delano & Aldrich.

The city purchased the building from Pan Am in 1946 and converted it into City Hall in 1954. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and features Art Deco architecture, murals celebrating aviation history and ceilings painted with celestial zodiac figures.

No timeline has been set for the Museum of Miami's civic campus proposal. Curjeiras said the museum would present its intent to the city, but no hearing date was announced.