What is SAVE THE COCONUT GROVE PLAYHOUSE hiding?

It started when Steve Shapiro asked me to post something for him.  You see, Steve was a long-time staffer at The Grove, and is intimately familiar with the problems that faced it.  So he's got a solid insider's view on the issue of saving the Playhouse.

And so he posted his view on the matter on the Facebook page of Save The Coconut Grove Playhouse.

Shortly after he posted his comments, they were deleted.  So we took a look, couldn't find them, and posted a couple of questions about claims being made on the matter.  Not only were our comments deleted, the page de-friended us.

Here's what Steve said about his own experience with STCGP:

Whoever is monitoring that space deleted the comment in about 5 seconds. He is NOT interested in a real discussion on this matter.

I was wondering if you would be interested in offering a discussion of it on your blog. While I sympathize with their desire to preserve a "piece of history", even when we were open, I believed that to keep the Playhouse going the theater would need to be renovated. While I think these people's hearts are in the right place, it's that heart that will forever prevent the Playhouse from being a viable theater again.

What Steve is saying - and The Scene has mentioned before - that the original structure, restored to its previous best condition, isn't up to fullfilling the mission of a professional theater in the 21st century, and may even hinder the daily operation of a professional theater company.

So we're going to delve into the matter right here.  We're going to examine claims being made, and we're going to find the facts of the matter.

Here's the comments that Steve made that Save the Coconut Grove Playhouse didn't want you to read:

"I was the sound man at The Playhouse for 16 years, right up to the day they closed. Let me offer a differing opinion. The physical plant at the Playhouse NEEDS to be renovated and upgraded. Let's not even get into the decay that has inevitably occurred since its closing.

• The lack of wing space and low fly ceiling made the theater insufficient to sustain the kind of show that made it famous in its heyday.
• The lack of an orchestra pit was a great detriment to the presentation of a musical.
• The size of the house chamber (1100 seats) was too small to accommodate a big musical, but too large for a drama . Our program of delivering pre- Broadway theater was diminishing owing to limitations of the stage house, and intimate drama was very difficult owing to the size of the house.

While I admire your effort to preserve a local treasure, I assure you that the building as it stands is the major obstacle to making it a viable theater. It MUST be renovated if it is to be resurrected. Just my opinion, but one that comes from working in that space everyday for its last 16 years."

If Steve's name seems vaguely familiar, it's because during those 16 years and for a few years after, he has been one of the most highly acclaimed sound designers in South Florida.  He has a shelf-full of awards he's earned in that time.

But Save the Coconut Grove doesn't think his opinion is worth hearing.

The Scene, on the other hand, looks forward to a debate on the matter.  All we ask is that if you make any claim, you provide a link to a source that verifies or at least validates that claim.  We will remove libelous comments, but only those.  We don't even mind if you swear.

So the topic of THIS post is, "Was STCGP playing fair when it deleted this comment?  Should a grassroots movement trying to instill people to exercise democracy exempt itself from democratic principles such as airing dissenting opinions?"