Bass Museum seeks approval for new gallery and raised plaza in Collins Park

The Bass Museum of Art is asking Miami Beach’s Historic Preservation Board to approve a new gallery building, a raised plaza and a large canopy on the southwest corner of its Collins Park campus, according to application documents filed with the city. The board is scheduled to hear the request on Nov. 10.

The plans, by Los Angeles firm Johnston Marklee, call for about 4,029 square feet of new building area, roughly 12,534 square feet of raised platform, an outdoor patio partly covered by the canopy, and about 5,145 square feet of site and streetscape improvements, the architects’ Oct. 5 letter to the board says. The museum sits at 2100/2111 Collins Ave.

What changes, and what doesn’t

The letter says the 1930 coral-stone building designed by Russell Pancoast would be left largely untouched: the raised platform would meet the old building’s edge at its floor level without altering its walls. Work in the 1950 loggia would raise its floor for accessibility and flood resilience, and a window on the 2017 Isozaki-era wing would become a new entrance. The new gallery would have an 18-foot ceiling and sit above the city’s design flood elevation, according to the filing.

The museum is also asking for a variance to allow 12-foot ceilings in two small connecting spaces and some back-of-house areas, lower than the city’s resiliency code otherwise requires, the letter says.

A separate Bass application on the same agenda covers art installations in Collins Park. Its filings are scanned documents, and the city’s notice gives no further description.

A third kiosk for Washington Avenue

The board will also consider a digital information kiosk at Washington Avenue and 16th Street, in the Flamingo Park Historic District. IKE Smart City, which holds a city contract for up to 30 kiosks, says in its Sept. 21 letter that the board approved kiosks at Washington and 8th Street and at Washington and 12th Street on April 14, but sent the third one back for a better location. The company says the kiosk would face north and south to limit how much it screens nearby storefronts, and would be set back 14 feet 7 inches from the nearest business.

How to weigh in

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. Nov. 10 in the City Commission Chambers, third floor of City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Drive, and can be joined on Zoom (webinar ID 817 4834 7488), according to the city’s hearing notice. Application files are posted on the city’s OneMeeting portal. Items can be continued to a later date. The Planning Department takes questions at 305-673-7550.