The Coral Gables Museum has been the dream of many Coral Gables leaders for over a decade.  By 2005 it became evident that the Gables’ old Municipal Building, better known as the Police and Fire Station had deteriorated to a point where major renovation was needed.  The building, a 1939 Deco and Mediterranean Revival coral stone structure designed and constructed as a WPA project, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Holding true to Coral Gables’ vision of historic preservation in The City Beautiful, City officials and the newly formed Coral Gables Museum Corp. began a partnership to renovate the building, add a state-of-the-art exhibition gallery in an adjacent parking lot and create a new museum in the heart of the City’s downtown.

Construction and renovation of the new Coral Gables Museum is 99% complete and over the summer staff and volunteers will move in, begin on-site public programming and create and install the Museum’s opening exhibitions.  The grand opening of the Museum is scheduled for October 10, 2010.  The Museum, with its beautiful gallery spaces, community meeting room, courtyard and plaza, will serve as the cultural center of The City Beautiful. 

The Museum’s mission is to celebrate, investigate and explore all aspects of architecture, landscape architecture, design and urban planning, historical preservation as well as historic and environmental preservation set within the context of one of America’s first and most successful planned communities – the City of Coral Gables. 

The Museum is a true public/private partnership between the City of Coral Gables and the Coral Gables Museum Corp., a private, not for profit 501.c.3 corporation operating an educational cultural institution within a City owned facility.  The Museum raises its own operating budget to fund the exhibitions and educational programs it provides, through memberships, private and government grants, admissions, earned income and, most importantly, with contributions from community members who believe in our mission.