Merrick Statue Nears Unveiling: A Statue of Coral Gables Founder George Merrick is Under Wraps — Until a May 23 Unveiling
By Elaine De Valle, The Miami Herald
May 14–Is that a mummy in front of Coral Gables City Hall?
No, it’s a daddy: Founding father George Merrick.
Next week, the city will unveil the long-awaited statue of the pioneer who planned and developed the City Beautiful, a monument commissioned by the Coral Gables Garden Club four years ago.
The idea, however, was born almost 80 years ago when the Garden Club voted in 1927 to erect a statue of the city’s founder. But then there was a war, a Depression and a hurricane or two.
Five years ago, the concept was reborn and since then the Garden Club — which also created the gateway entrances on the east side of Miracle Mile and at Coral Way and Red Road — raised more than $300,000 to pay for the bronze statue and have it brought to City Hall, 405 Biltmore Way.
It took all day Tuesday to install the statue, Public Works Director Alberto Delgado said.
The site has likely caused some close calls among rubbernecking drivers along Le Jeune Road or Miracle Mile, where it stands like some kind of guardian wrapped in a black, industrial plastic cover.
In fact, nobody has seen Merrick’s likeness, except some members of the Garden Club when it was at the foundry in Central Florida.
“We don’t want anyone to see it until we uncover it,” said Betsy Adams, a longtime club member, past president and chairwoman of the Merrick monument committee. “We want it to be a real opening, with the people who donated and people who have been involved.”
William Beckwith, the noted sculptor and professor at the University of Mississippi, will be here, she said.
“It’s been three years and we’re just thrilled,” Adams said. “We can wait a few more days.”
City workers huddled around Merrick after installing the statue Tuesday night — as if they didn’t want to leave it alone. They returned every day to continue on the city’s $50,000 worth of work around the statue, laying keystone coral sidewalks, installing monument-grade lighting, landscaping and finishing a circular concrete bench.
“Although I can’t imagine anyone actually sitting there, it’s so awfully sunny,” Delgado said. “Maybe someone who wants to confess to Merrick.”
The 12-foot-high statue, which weighs about 4,000 pounds, was placed on a four-foot pedestal. When unveiled, he will look east down Miracle Mile. Based on a photograph provided by historian Arva Moore Parks, the statue depicts an informal Merrick — jacket over his right shoulder, a set of plans in his left hand.
“A spitting image,” said Dorothy Thomson, a former city commissioner and one of the Garden Club members who worked hard to raise funds for the statue.
Said Adams: “It looks so much like him, it’s too bad he’s not here to see it.”
The club’s next project: an entrance on Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Southwest Eighth Street with a $10,000 clock that chimes in the middle of the street.
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Miami Herald
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