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

Read Time: 2 minsFound 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.

A City Embraces Preservation (1986)

Read Time: 2 minsBarbara 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.

‘Streamline Dreamtime’ Art Deco Weekend (1988)

Read Time: 3 minsIn 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.

Moon Over Miami Ball at the Raleigh Hotel (1995)

Read Time: 3 minsHosted 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.

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

Read Time: 2 minsBefore 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.

Our Drive, Ocean Drive: Campaign of 1986

Our Drive Ocean DriveRead Time: 3 minsThe 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.

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

Read Time: 5 minsMiami 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.

The Kay Family and the Clevelander Hotel

Kay Family and the Clevelander HotelRead Time: 4 minsAccording 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.