Fred B. Hartnett Ponce Circle Park

Fred B. Hartnett Ponce Circle Park is the circular civic green at 2810 Ponce de Leon Boulevard in downtown Coral Gables, laid out in the 1920s under George Merrick to a design by landscape architect William Lyman Phillips, now set for the most comprehensive redesign in its history. The $10-million-plus project is funded three ways by Allen Morris Co., the City of Coral Gables and Agave Holdings, owner of the neighboring Plaza Coral Gables, with Allen Morris serving as development manager and guaranteeing cost overruns. Maria de la Guardia of de la Guardia Victoria Architects & Urbanists leads the architectural and landscape design with Andres Arcila of Naturalficial, and planting is developed with Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. At the center is the Odeon, an open-air performance structure for concerts, theater, civic events and fitness classes that doubles as public seating when unprogrammed; at the north end, Frank Stella's monumental polished-aluminum Puffed and Inverted Star II, acquired by the City on the Cultural Development Board's recommendation, is installed in a reflecting pool as a posthumous public work by the artist, who died in May 2024. The package also upgrades Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Almeria Avenue to University Drive with raised crosswalks, speed tables, enhanced pedestrian crossings and new stormwater drainage. The City Commission approved the project unanimously and a Development Management Agreement has been executed. Construction begins January 2027 with completion expected in the first quarter of 2028.