Ponce Circle Park Gets One Last Fall Before the Construction Fences Go Up

Fred B. Hartnett Ponce Circle Park sits at 2810 Ponce de Leon Boulevard. It has been a civic gathering place since George Merrick was laying out Coral Gables in the 1920s, and it was originally designed by landscape architect William Lyman Phillips. The lawn is close to the end of its run in its current form. The release announcing the redesign partnership, published October 21 by Community Newspapers, puts the start of construction in January 2027 and expected completion in the first quarter of 2028.

The Pumpkin Patch has already come and gone. The City listed it for October 17 at the park. Two dates are left on the public calendar before the year turns.

Halloween Saturday, then a Friday in mid-November

The City's Day of the Dead listing has the Mexican Consulate filling the park with traditional Mexican performances, music, dance and food on Halloween afternoon and evening. The Coral Gables Museum's calendar has its own Día de Muertos program the same day, built around an altar honoring Octavio Paz by Karla Kantorovich and Monica Czukerberg.

The last scheduled event is Art in the Park on November 13. Carnaval Miami describes it as live music, visual art, food, drinks and community. Its fall call for artists lists Latin funk, jazz, reggae and rumba among the musical styles. A jury picks 20 artists, and each pays $400 to show at both fall dates. Carnaval Miami is powered by the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana and presented by Mastec, and its proceeds go to the Kiwanis of Little Havana Foundation. The public listing runs from 7 to 11 p.m. The exhibitor paperwork lists hours running to midnight, so anyone planning a late visit should check with the organizer.

The walk to the lawn passes the restaurants at The Plaza Coral Gables, which borders the park. The Plaza's dining directory lists these spots:

• Labeled newly open: Cantina Leon, and MIKA, which is now taking reservations
• Sit-down: CVI.CHE 105, Fogo de Chão, Mottai, Bar Mini by Zitz Sum
• Quick or sweet: Sanguich de Miami, Joe & The Juice, San Lorenzo Gelateria, Sweet Paris
• Still marked coming soon: Zuccaly

The Plaza's October promotion also names the Loews Coral Gables venues inside the complex: Miami Joe Coffee Co., Americana Kitchen and Phineas.

A park that has worked as a festival ground

In June, the City's concept design packet described the park as a recreational space for downtown that "has been the site of many special events." It named the Coral Gables Pumpkin Patch, Carnaval de Barranquilla, a Festival of Lights celebration and a National Championship Watch Party. The City's holiday roundup last year put the Festival of Lights menorah lighting at Ponce Circle Park on December 14, 2025.

Those events have used the park as a lawn, an open space ringed by traffic. Gables Gazette reporting on the June 1 public meeting described the current park as exposed to traffic. It said the new plan answers that with tree canopy, landscaping and enclosure.

The redesign takes the park's event history and builds it in. The new centerpiece is the Odeon, an open-air performance structure. The release says it will host "concerts, theatrical performances, civic events, fitness classes, and cultural gatherings," and will serve as public seating when nothing is scheduled. According to Coral Gables Today, the design also adds arcades, pavilions, a tree-lined allée, a promenade, seating and an event lawn. Once the park reopens, a Friday art night or a holiday lighting will have its own venue there.

How the budget grew, and who pays for it

The October release calls this a "$10 million-plus" project funded by Allen Morris Co., the City and Agave Holdings, owner of The Plaza. Allen Morris has agreed to cover any cost overruns. Gables Gazette reporting from July gives the more precise figures.

1. Original financing, secured in 2024 and 2025: $7.3 million, made up of $5.3 million from the City and $2 million from the developer.
2. Revised total cost: $11.2 million, up from an earlier $8.9 million estimate.
3. City's share after the July 7 vote: $8.2 million, or 73 percent. That includes $2.4 million tied to a 2020 development agreement for the property now known as The Plaza.
4. Developer's share: $3 million, or 27 percent. That includes a $500,000 payment for the right to name the park's open-air bandshell after an individual, subject to the city manager's approval.

The Gazette identified the developer entity as Ponce Park Residences, LLC, the Allen Morris company building a 57-unit condominium next to the park at Ponce de Leon Boulevard and University Drive. Commissioners approved both items 5-0.

The schedule has moved up. In July, the developer's representative told commissioners construction was targeted for "next summer." The October release sets it at January 2027. That moves the start up by roughly half a year, and it is why this fall is the park's last season as it is now.

What returns in 2028

The largest new feature is Frank Stella's Puffed and Inverted Star II. It is a monumental polished-aluminum sculpture that the City acquired on the recommendation of its Cultural Development Board, and it will stand in a reflecting pool at the north end of the park. Stella died in May 2024 at 87, so this will be a posthumous installation of one of his final large-scale works.

Maria de la Guardia of de la Guardia Victoria Architects & Urbanists, a Coral Gables firm, leads the design with Andres Arcila of Naturalficial. The planting plan is being developed with Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. In July, Mayor Vince Lago told commissioners the park would use real stone rather than "faux coquina," along with marble structures, as the Gazette reported.

The work also reaches beyond the park. The project includes improvements along Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Almeria Avenue to University Drive: better pedestrian crossings, raised crosswalks, speed tables and a new stormwater drainage system. For anyone who walks from the Ponce corridor to The Plaza, the streets they cross are also being rebuilt.

"World-class cities are defined by their parks and public spaces."

Mayor Lago gave that line in the October 21 release.

The rest of the downtown calendar

Neither the release nor the City has said where events usually held at Ponce Circle will move while it is closed. Downtown's other dates are already on the calendar. Giralda Live runs November 6 from 7 to 11 p.m. at Giralda Plaza, 120 Giralda Ave., with Pamir y La Pachanguísima playing from 8 to 10 p.m. Gables Gallery Night falls on the same night, and the Coral Gables Museum lists its first-Friday hours as 6 to 10 p.m. with free admission. The Giralda Plaza Artisan Market runs on first and third Saturdays from 4 to 10 p.m. through November 21, which puts its November dates on the 7th and the 21st. On Miracle Mile, The Burn reported that Imoto by Buccan was set to open October 12 at 100 Miracle Mile.

Carnaval Miami's next big Coral Gables date is already set for that period. Its posted 2027 program puts Carnaval on the Mile on Miracle Mile on March 6 and 7. That falls during construction, about a year before the project's expected completion in the first quarter of 2028.

If you own near the Ponce corridor and want to understand how the park's 2028 reopening could affect your property, Miami Brokers Group can walk you through it. Request a private valuation and consultation with Michael Diaz.