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.
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.
This Miami Herald article from 1986 describes how the “once scorned and virtually powerless” movement began to “emerge as a force to be reckoned with in Miami Beach politics.”
“A few years ago, if you were a preservationist, you were like a pariah in this community,” said Neisen Kasdin, a planning board member. “There was intense opposition to it. There was almost no support on the commission.”
Mayor Alex Daoud called the city’s collection of Art Deco and Mediterranean-style architecture “one of the greatest assets we have.” Miami Beach had finally hailed Art Deco.
Changing Political Base
Barbara was enthusiastic about the shift. “The political base is clearly changing… it’s becoming younger all the time, and young people love preservation.”
The Miami Beach Development Corporation worked together with the league to stimulate investment in the area. This included the successful campaign for the $3 million bond for Ocean Drive improvements. “With heavy financial backing from the new investors in the area, the group raised $38,000 and ran an advertising campaign that included a mass mailing of pink pamphlets to every voter in the city. Fifty-three percent of the voters approved the bond issue.”
According to Commissioner Bruce Singer: “They [preservationists] have reached the point where they are a political action committee, they have a power base… The Ocean Drive campaign is an example. You tell me what politician doesn’t open his eyes and ears to a group that has that kind of ability.”
