Miami's historic preservation board voted 5-3 Monday against a historic designation for The Miami Herald's building, which is scheduled to be demolished in May.
The board heard from architects and historians who are trying to spare the bayfront building by making it a protected landmark, but denied the request.
“The Miami Herald building does indeed meet the criteria for historic designation on its historic and architectural merits,” said Becky Roper Matkov of the Dade Heritage Trust.
Architect Richard Gonzalez told NBC 6 South Florida, “What vision, and now they're going to knock it down? That would be a crime."
The newspaper is moving to the former headquarters of the U.S. Southern Command in suburban Doral next year. The Herald's parent company sold its downtown property to the Genting Group in 2011. Genting has proposed building a resort with a casino at the site.
Several speakers described the building as a classic example of Miami Modern architecture, called MiMo.
“Just as Art Deco defined an era on Miami Beach, MiMo will define us,” historian Arva Moore Parks argued.
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But architect Richard Heisenbottle, representing the Genting Group, said the yellow building is "not a fine example of that style by any stretch of the imagination."
"It is not an outstanding work by a prominent architect by any stretch of the imagination, nor does it possess outstanding qualities of design details and craftsmanship," he said. "The building is clumsy. It is squat."
