Archives

Miami Design Preservation League is pleased to make a selection of archival photos, documents, and collectibles available online. Please see below for our most recent posts. Keep this page in your bookmarks and come back to see the latest postings of history, memorabilia, and more!

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New Archives Added June 2024!

The Barbara Baer Capitman Archives

You can now access a selection of archive files directly on our Dropbox, by clicking the green button here. This project is sponsored in part by the Department of State, Division of Historical Resources and the state of Florida.

Archive Articles

Capitman's Cardozo Leads Way (1979)

Capitman’s Cardozo Leads Way (1979)

Read Time: 3 mins Andrew Capitman, son of Miami Design Preservation League leader Barbara Baer Capitman, was a leading Art Deco rehabilitation pioneer in the late 1970s and 1980s. In 1979, he purchased the Cardozo Hotel with a group of enthusiastic investors who believed in the resurgence of the city through the preservation of its past. Mr. Capitman instinctively knew that a 1930s revival would dramatically improve tourism.

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Six Art Deco Hotels Facing Renovation (1984)

Read Time: 2 mins In 1984, six hotels underwent major renovations that would mark the second wave of an Art Deco revival in South Beach. According to a Miami Herald article written by Paul Shannon on July 8, 1984, Royale Group Ltd. officials secured a $13.5 million loan to pay for the planned renovation, which included painting and refurbishing in the original Art Deco style.

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Treasure or Trash, the Hotel is Gone (1981)

Read Time: 3 mins Editors Note: The Barbara Baer Capitman archives “Historic Threads” project is partly sponsored by the Department of State, Division of Historical Resources and the State of Florida. Despite preservationists’ efforts to save

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Deco district on the Beach could be draw (1981)

Deco district on the Beach could be draw (1981)

Read Time: 3 mins In the 1980s, Miami Beach faced a dilemma that would crucially impact its future: Would it turn into a city full of brand-new skyscraper condos, or would it be a revitalized city honoring its past with an eye toward its future? The following quotes are from a Miami Herald editorial written by Charles Whited on January 29, 1981, in which he argues that Art Deco could save the desolate island and move it toward a cultural revival.

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Historic Threads: Revitalizing America's Historic Resorts: Annual 'Back to the City' conference opens April 13 in Art Deco district (1984)

Revitalizing America’s Historic Resorts: Annual ‘Back to the City’ conference opens April 13 in Art Deco district (1984)

Read Time: 3 mins The annual Back to the City conference was a significant gathering focused on urban preservation and revitalization efforts in historic American cities. The conference served as a platform for discussing the resurgence of residential and commercial interests in decaying inner cities, aiming to rejuvenate and preserve the architectural and cultural heritage of these urban areas.

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Restoration Fever Spreads: Two buy ‘jewel of Ocean Dr.’ (1986)

Read Time: 2 mins Now known most famously as the former home of Gianni Versace during the 1990s, in the 1980s the Villa Casa Casuarina was an apartment house called the Amsterdam Palace. At the time this article was written, the property was among the most sought-after in all of South Beach. Developers Gerry Sanchez and Amancio Victor Suarez bought the property for double its real estate value:

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Preservationists Fight to Save Bass Museum Area (1988)

Read Time: 2 mins At the time, preservationists fought to make this quaint neighborhood a historic district. Then referred to as the Bass District, the area is between Washington and Collins Avenue from 16th to 23rd Street. It features some of the best examples of Art Deco and Mediterranean architecture.

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Keith Haring at the Wham Bam on Washington Avenue (1988)

Read Time: 2 mins Found among the archives PostMortem, a South Beach newspaper that ran from 1988-1990 and focused on arts and culture. A full-page ad announces a reception for the artist Keith Haring on Monday, May 2nd, 1988, at the Wham Bam at 437 Washington Avenue in South Beach.

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A City Embraces Preservation (1986)

Read Time: 2 mins Barbara Baer Capitman, founder of the Miami Design Preservation League and monumental leader in the movement to save Art Deco, fought tirelessly for the preservation of Art Deco in the 1970s and 1980s. But it wasn’t until about 10 years into the effort that preservationists began to be taken seriously at the local level.

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‘Streamline Dreamtime’ Art Deco Weekend (1988)

Read Time: 3 mins In 1988, the Miami Design Preservation League held its 11th Annual Art Deco Weekend. The festival’s theme was Streamline Dreamtime. Ocean Drive and the Art Deco District were slowly progressing from a hopeful dream to an innovative reality.

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Moon Over Miami Ball at the Raleigh Hotel (1995)

Read Time: 3 mins Hosted annually from 1978 through the 1990s, the Moon Over Miami Ball was a black-tie soiree held to fundraise for the Miami Design Preservation League. The event featured a lively evening with a 1930s nightclub atmosphere, held at several hotels in the historic Art Deco district, and featuring a variety of celebrities each year highlighting a unique theme. Over the years, the Balls brought in some of the greatest talent in the industry, including Cab Calloway, Eartha Kitt, the Xavier Cugat Orchestra, the Incomparable Hildegarde, Lionel Hampton and the Swing Classics.

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Nancy Liebman: “Beach Needs Preservation Expert” on the Planning Board (1986)

Read Time: 2 mins Before Miami Beach fully embraced its turnaround in the 1980s and 1990s, developers and preservationists alike had to come together to form a progressive and innovative plan for the future of the city. Part of this involved finding the best approach to planning and approvals within the district – a challenge given its status as the first 20th-century urban district in the United States listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Our Drive Ocean Drive

Our Drive, Ocean Drive: Campaign of 1986

Read Time: 3 mins The year was 1986 — Miami Beach was a tropical paradise that had fallen on hard times, and it was in the early stages of a citizen-led revitalization effort to spearhead economic development and improvements in the neighborhood.

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How the Arts Helped Influence the Resurgence of Lincoln Road in the 1980s

Read Time: 5 mins Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road Mall is one of the most popular shopping destinations in the world – a pedestrian promenade dotted with historic buildings from the 1920s-1960s. It stretches for about a mile between Washington Avenue and Alton Road. The outdoor shopping mall is a top stop for fashion, shopping, dining, markets, art galleries, and people-watching.

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Kay Family and the Clevelander Hotel

The Kay Family and the Clevelander Hotel

Read Time: 4 mins According to a 1986 Miami Herald article, in the 1980s developer Gerry Sanchez purchased numerous hotels along Ocean Drive. Mr. Sanchez was superstitious – and since he was 45 years old, the price he’d sell a property for would have to include the numbers 4 and 5: “For everything I sell, I have to make 45 cents or $4.50 or $45 or $4,500 or $45,000 or $450,000. I’m superstitious because that’s my age.” $450,000 is the profit he made while selling the Clevelander to the Kay Family for $1.65 million, after owning the property for four months.

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World Congresses

Off to the World Congress: 1991 to 2023

Read Time: 8 mins by Robin Grow, Vice-President, ICADS and President, Art Deco and Modernism Society of Australia A regular highlight (and a major Initiative) of ICADS activities for the last three decades has

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41st Street Through the Years

Read Time: 4 mins 41st Street is a key thoroughfare in the Mid-Beach section of Miami Beach, although the area in which it was constructed was once known as “North Beach”. Beginning in the

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Deauville Implosion

Read Time: < 1 min Today we lost the North Beach landmark Deauville Hotel due to demolition by neglect. We captured this footage of the implosion and ensuing demolition cloud. An important part of our cultural,

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The Cameo Theater

Read Time: 4 mins The Cameo Theater at 1445 Washington Avenue opened its doors on November 4th, 1938. It is located in the Española Way Historic District, which in 1986 became the first historic

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The Roney Plaza Hotel

Read Time: 3 mins The Roney Plaza Hotel, considered the very first of many monumental beachfront resorts, was once located at Collins Avenue and 23rd Street. It was built by New Jersey lawyer Newton

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Deauville Hotel Timeline

Read Time: 7 mins MDPL has developed a timeline starting with the first residential tower approval in 2003 (unbuilt). We plan to update this timeline – you can bookmark this page to stay in

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Remembering Keith Root

Read Time: 2 mins MDPL recently learned of another one of our dedicated preservationists who passed away last November, 2021. Keith Root attended the University of Florida from 1971-1977, where he received a BA and an

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Remembering Richard Hoberman

Read Time: 4 mins We were saddened to learn this weekend of the passing of Richard Hoberman (April 1, 1941 – March 4, 2022), another true MDPL pioneer that worked tirelessly for the cause of preservation

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Remembering Dr. Ernest Martin

Read Time: 4 mins We are sad to share the passing this week of Dr. Ernest L. Martin, who was a passionate and accomplished activist in the preservation movement as early as the 1970s.

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The Blackstone Hotel

Read Time: 3 mins In honor of Black History Month we call attention to the Blackstone Hotel on Washington Avenue that often went against the prevailing racism of minorities including welcoming blacks to Miami Beach. 

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Firehouse No.4 in Miami

Read Time: 3 mins At 1000 South Miami Avenue you will find both a turn-of-the-century restaurant and a living museum for the Mediterranean styled Firehouse No. 4, that is listed on the U.S. National

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Moon Over Miami Ball

Read Time: 4 mins Every year from 1978 through the 1990’s, there was a black-tie bash in Miami Beach benefiting the Miami Design Preservation League, called the “Moon Over Miami Ball”. This very anticipated party would

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The Splendor of the Helen Mar

Read Time: 3 mins The Helen Mar Apartment Hotel at 2421 Lake Pancoast Drive was designed by Robert E. Collins in 1936 for the owner John Marsa. Helen, the locals say, was the name

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Hotel Leonard 54 Ocean Drive

Read Time: 5 mins The Hotel Leonard at 54 Ocean Drive was built in 1925 by the owner H.E. Glickman, who named it after his son Leonard. Across from Hardie’s Casino, it was designed

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1235 Washington Avenue

Read Time: 5 mins In April 1935, The French Casino at 1235 Washington Avenue was designed by architect Thomas Hunter Henderson and built as a supper and vaudeville club, featuring cabaret acts and showgirls. By

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The Surf Club

Read Time: 3 mins Originally opened in 1930, The Surf Club located at 9011 Collins Avenue was designed by  pioneering Miami architect Russell Pancoast. It was the ultimate place to be seen. Located between Miami

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Carl Fisher’s Clubhouse

Read Time: 2 mins Carl Fisher’s Clubhouse built in 1916, just one year after the incorporation of the city of Miami Beach, was located at his executive golf course on Dade Blvd. and Washington

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National Register of Historic Places

Read Time: 2 mins On May 14th, 1979, the Miami Beach Art Deco District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the nation’s first urban 20th century Historic District. This year we

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“Definitely Deco”

Read Time: 5 mins In the early 80s in the Art Deco Historic District, in the lobby of the Washington Storage Company, 1003 Washington Avenue, you could find the eclectic antique and gift shop

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The New Yorker Hotel

Read Time: 2 mins The New Yorker Hotel once stood at 1611 Collins Avenue. It was the destruction of this iconic 1940 hotel in April 1981, considered by some the masterpiece of local architect

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1930s El Chico Club

Read Time: 2 mins El Chico’s swank nightclub was built in the 1930s and located in the new Art Deco Architectural District at 22nd St and Park Avenue. In 1982…”the leaders of the MDPL

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The Lido Spa Hotel 40 Island Avenue

Read Time: 3 mins Once located on Belle Isle, the only natural island on the Venetian Island—the rest are man-made, the Monterrey Motel and Yacht Club was built in 1953 and designed by architect

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Beach Fashions of 1940

Read Time: < 1 min This excerpt comes from a March 4th, 1940, archival Life magazine article entitled, “Miami & Miami Beach; Biggest U.S. winter resort has biggest boom” “All beaches are noteworthy for the

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The Colony Theatre

Read Time: 3 mins The landmark Colony Theatre at 1040 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach opened January 25, 1935, and was built for the Paramount chain. It was a superb example of the Art

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Andy Warhol’s visit to Deco District

Read Time: 2 mins March 2021 marks the 41st anniversary of the world-famous artist Andy Warhol’s visit to the South Beach Art Deco District. As one of the pioneering Art Deco collectors, Andy Warhol

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Postcards from WWII

Read Time: 3 mins To honor the boys who served and were stationed in Miami Beach during WWII, we searched our archive collection for postcards from that era that were sent by the soldiers

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Burdines home of ‘Sunshine Fashions’

Read Time: 3 mins In celebration of Black History Month….The downtown Burdines had a place of real significance when the nation entered the civil right’s era. Burdines was the flagship for Florida’s first family of

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