The Barnacle's Pavilion Is Still Being Rebuilt. Its Volunteers Are Filling the Lawn Anyway.
November 12, 2026
November 12, 2026
In 1998, for the park's centennial, Dr. John Van Leer, his son Sam and 30 other volunteers from the Multihull Association of Southern Florida set out to build a replica of Commodore Ralph Munroe's proa design. Sections came down from the second-story window of the Barnacle boathouse to volunteers waiting on the ground. The work then moved to the Micco Pavilion, where the main hull was finished. The Barnacle Society told that story in its Spring 2026 newsletter.
The pavilion where they built that hull is gone. The Society's Winter 2025 newsletter said demolition was finished and construction was about to start, with a target completion date of March 18, 2026. This weekend, with the pavilion rebuild still underway, the same volunteer organization is bringing two of its biggest crowds of the year onto the lawn at 3485 Main Highway. On Friday night a Grove band marks 30 years. On Saturday the dogs take over.
The Spring 2026 newsletter took up the delay right away.
"I will start with the elephant in the room, as it were, The Pavilion, visitors to the park may have noticed, won't be completed by March 18th as I mentioned in our last newsletter."
It blamed city permits and contractor issues and did not give a new completion date. Later in the same issue: "Construction on our pavilion continues and we appreciate your patience while we work around this process."
The pavilion was only one item on a longer list. In August 2025, Coconut Grove Spotlight profiled park manager Daniel Kelsey. He planned to rebuild the dock, which Hurricane Irma left as bare pilings in 2017, and to add an open-air pavilion and a permeable-surface path. The profile also explained how this park gets its money. The Barnacle Society, a volunteer nonprofit, pays for capital projects when state funds are not available. In the Summer 2026 newsletter, written as he finished his first year, Kelsey listed repairs to a historic carriage-house door and a library screen door. He said rebuilding the boathouse marine railway was "on the horizon," and he asked for volunteers to help at the boathouse.
The group carrying that repair list either runs or co-hosts both of this weekend's events.
The Moonlight Concert Series is the Society's music program on the lawn. It runs October through April, doors open at 6 p.m., and pets are not allowed. A schedule that Miami on the Cheap published October 9 listed only two dates for 2026–27 "so far": Mama Fuma on October 9 and The 18 Wheelers on November 13. Mama Fuma has already played, so Friday is the only date still ahead on that list.
The 18 Wheelers play a mix of roots rock, honky-tonk country, western swing, rockabilly and bluegrass. Their sets combine original songs with covers of Johnny Cash, Elvis, Buck Owens and Gram Parsons, sung in three-part harmony, and they have played from Palm Beach to the Keys for decades. Longtime Grove residents may know them from somewhere closer. The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau's listing calls them longtime performers at the former Scotty's Landing. For the anniversary show the lineup expands: Laurie Jennings joins on vocals and guitar and Dana Keller on pedal steel.
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Adults | $20 |
| Barnacle Society members | $15 |
| Ages 6–17 | $10 |
| Ages 5 and under | Free |
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the music runs from 7 to 9 p.m. The band's event page on the Barnacle site, which also sells tickets, says picnics and BYOB are welcome and pets are not. Lawn chairs and blankets are allowed, rolling coolers are encouraged, and a flashlight helps on the way out. That same Friday night, Coconut Grove Spotlight's weekly roundup notes, the University of Miami holds its Homecoming boat burning and fireworks at Lake Osceola at 8:30 p.m. Expect more traffic than usual on roads heading toward Coral Gables.
Equipaws Pet Services and The Barnacle Society present the Fifth Annual Holiday Barkzaar from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $7. Dogs and children 5 and under get in free. It is a fundraiser for Paw Patrol Animal Rescue and for The Barnacle Historic State Park, and organizers are collecting food, toys, blankets and other donations for local rescues.
The day's schedule includes a lure course, a play zone with cooling pools, holiday contests, ornament decorating, letters to Santa, Santa Paws portraits, doggy yoga and live holiday music. Local pet businesses will sell food, treats, collars, clothing and accessories. The listed food vendors are Chef Norlan, Cafe Vidita, Acai Way Organic and Sugar Therapy Sweets. The Spotlight roundup also mentions a holiday costume contest and a Pup Cup Showdown.
The rules matter here because they decide who gets in. Before Saturday morning:
The waiver also bars dogs that are aggressive, nervous, untrained or undisciplined. With a lure course, pools and a costume contest all in one place, that clause decides which household dogs should come.
The Barnacle has no public parking on site. The park sends visitors to metered spaces in the neighborhood. You enter down a stairway or a ramp and through an iron gate. For Saturday, the Barkzaar page points to the Grove Playhouse lot and neighborhood parking and mentions a Freebee ride from the Playhouse lot. For a 7 p.m. downbeat on Friday, the lawn is easier to reach on foot or by bike for anyone who lives within a few blocks of Main Highway.
On ordinary days, Florida State Parks lists grounds hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Monday. Admission is $2 per person for walk-ins and cyclists, and free for ages 5 and under. The Munroe house is open by guided tour only, at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tours cost $3 for ages 13 and up and $1 for ages 6 to 12. Both Friday and Saturday are regular open days, so a Barkzaar morning can end with an early-afternoon house tour.
Sunday moves the weekend a few blocks north to the bay. The fall series of free yoga classes continues at Glass & Vine, 2820 McFarlane Road, from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. on November 15. Registration is required. Back on Main Highway, the Kampong at 4013 S. Douglas Road hosts Vespers, a meditation, poetry and sound gathering, on Saturday, November 21, from 3 to 4:15 p.m. It is free, but registration is required and space is limited to 30. The Coconut Grove calendar lists the Christmas Tree Lighting & Block Party in the business district on Sunday, November 29, at 6 p.m.
Society membership pays off at the gate on Friday, where members pay $15 for the anniversary concert instead of $20. The Society's newsletters are also where it has reported on the pavilion and on the boathouse marine railway.
At Miami Brokers Group, we follow the Grove the way its longtime owners do: block by block, and project by project along Main Highway. If you own near the Barnacle and want a discreet read on what your property is worth as the park's waterfront projects move ahead, request a private valuation and consultation with Michael Diaz.
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