Get That Girl in the Picture

Hey, it looks like the Coppertone girl might fit here!

By Margaret Griffis
Special to BT

Everyone has enjoyed the sense of accomplishment when the final piece of a difficult jigsaw puzzle falls into place — everyone, that is, who perseveres to the end. Much of the real world can seem like a puzzle, too — so many little pieces need to be united before the final image can be revealed. It’s often a daunting task that only the stubborn can complete.

The ultimate picture of one particular community puzzle happens to include the Coppertone Girl, an icon Miamians instantly recognize as part of their history and mythology. A symbol of fun and sun, she’s the little girl known to millions worldwide thanks to her revealed baby’s bottom, courtesy of a rascally dog, and, of course, those tan lines. The individual pieces of this puzzle are varied in shape and size, but they may be starting to fit.

Last summer the MiMo Biscayne Association, a nonprofit citizen’s group devoted to promoting the Miami Modern/Biscayne Boulevard Historic District, hatched a plan to refurbish and relocate the vintage Coppertone sign that has hung over W. Flagler Street in downtown Miami for about 15 years. It’s the second home to the gigantic sign. For more than three decades it had originally overlooked the bay from Biscayne Boulevard at NE 6th Street. The sign was not only beloved by the merchants, who parlayed its popularity into sales of suntan oil, but also by the public and even connoisseurs of art and architecture. She was a pop-art diamond formed in the fomenting dawn of the 1960s.

In 1991 the demolition of the sign’s former home — the 13-story Parkleigh Building — meant that the girl would have to find a new sunning location. Schering-Plough, owners of the Coppertone trademark, donated the sign to the citizens of Miami and placed it in the care of the Dade Heritage Trust, a nonprofit preservation organization. The Trust has taken loving care of its adopted daughter ever since. After refurbishing the critical parts that could be salvaged then — light boxes containing the girl, her dog, and the letters that spell out Coppertone — the group ceremoniously placed the sign on the east side of the Concord Building at 66 W. Flagler St., not too far from her old home. Sadly, now this second locale is no longer able to host the popular image.

Miami is a town of drastic changes, and the kinetic landscape has never been particularly hospitable to relics a half-century old. According to Becky Matkov, the executive director of Dade Heritage Trust, a couple of oversize problems have cropped up. First, the sign was severely damaged during the 2005 hurricane season. Not only does the Trust lack the funds to repair it, its insurance company canceled the commercial liability coverage on the sign. Until the damage is repaired, the policy cannot be reinstated.

Second, the new owners of the neighboring property have been infected by the current Miami miasma to supersize, and are planning to build a towering structure that will completely obscure the sign. No matter what happens next, the Coppertone Girl has to come down. Now.

The perfect solution was to entrust the sign to the MiMo Biscayne Association. The group was verbally promised the sign last November and has been just as diligent as the Trust in pursuing any option that will save it for a second time. “This is a good opportunity to get it restored and back up somewhere,” says Matkov. Fortunately Schering-Plough has offered $2000 for the removal and inspection of the landmark, so this one part of the puzzle should be completed soon. According to a spokesperson, Schering-Plough expects the sign to come down sometime in April at the latest, and then all parties involved will determine the next steps for the Coppertone tyke.

With that financial portion of the puzzle seemingly solved, Chico Goldsmith, a Trust member and former owner of the Concord, has been coordinating with 66 West Flagler Limited, the partnership that now owns the building, on the physical plans to remove the sign as soon as possible. When asked about the status, attorney Julio Ayala, a partner in the Concord, said the “[partnership likes] the sign because of its historical significance” and he’s going to miss it when it comes down.

As for our girl’s new home, MiMo Biscayne would like to see her returned to the Boulevard in the recently hatched MiMo Historic District on the Upper Eastside. Sources say that local historian Antolín Carbonell is producing a study that examines possible locations, and has narrowed it down to a few choices. He did not respond to a phone call, but a quick drive up the Boulevard reveals few opportunities among the low-rise buildings. One place previously mentioned is the classic MiMo building at 56th Street, designed by Robert Law Weed and now housing Andiamo Pizza.

However, it may be too soon to even start the guessing game. “It just seems senseless to be knocking on people’s doors, talking about the sign, when we don’t know if it can be restored, if we’re going to find the money, or if we’re even going to [physically] get it,” says Fran Rollason, president of the MiMo Biscayne Association.

In other words, the puzzle is still far from complete. Before the Coppertone girl coyly shows Miami her bum, funding for the restoration and permission from the city to hang the sign will have to be secured. A company involved from the beginning, which was working directly with Coppertone inventor Benjamin Green, will have a look at her and determine whether she’s even salvageable, and if so, how much a restoration would cost.

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