UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (December 10, 2015) — With both celebrating their 90th birthdays since being founded by real estate developer George Merrick, the University of Miami and City of Gables held their annual joint Development Agreement meeting last Thursday, convening in a special location to mark their anniversary milestones—the historic, and restored, 1300 Campo Sano building that served as the U’s first registration and administration center.

The two-story former art building recently won Coral Gables’ City Beautiful Award for its outstanding renovation. The 1947 wood building, which was hastily constructed from decommissioned World War II Army barracks to accommodate the flood of veterans who enrolled in college on the GI Bill, has also won other major preservation awards, such as the American Institute of Architects Florida/Caribbean Chapter’s Honor Award of Excellence for Historic Preservation, the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation’s Outstanding Achievement Award for Restoration/Rehabilitation, and the Dade Heritage Trust’s Outstanding Restoration of a Historic Site Award.

Leaders from UM and Coral Gables attended at the meeting, including new UM President Julio Frenk.

The meeting was the fifth since UM and Coral Gables hammered out a 20-year development agreement in 2010 that guides the school’s growth and extends cultural, athletic, and academic programming to the city’s residents.

Pictured from left in the front row are: Coral Gables Commissioner Pat Keon, Coral Gables City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark, UM Trustee Ed Williamson, Coral Gables Commissioner Jeannett Slesnick, Chair of the UM Board of Trustees Stuart Miller, UM President Julio Frenk, UM Trustee Charles Cobb, UM Trustee Arthur Hertz, Coral Gables Commissioner Vince Lago, UM Trustee Arva Moore Parks, and UM Senior Vice President for Business and Finance and CFO Joe Natoli.

Pictured from left in the back row are: Coral Gables City Clerk Walter Foeman, UM Student Government President Brianna Hathaway, UM Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees Richard Fain, Coral Gables Commission Vice Chairman Frank Quesada, Coral Gables City Attorney Craig Leen, Coral Gables Mayor James Cason, and UM Dean of Students Ricardo Hall.