Movies by the Bay

301 North Biscayne Boulevard,
Miami, FL 33132

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Movies by the Bay

Movies by the Bay was an outdoor cinema located inside Bayfront Park that showed first run movies and opened in 2006.

Made of portable components, it occupied a grassy area to the left of the Mildred and Claude Pepper Fountain, (from the perspective of a person in the park facing east towards the fountain and Biscayne Bay), that was enclosed by a metal fence covered with blue tarp. The box office/concession stand was a white temporary shack-like structure at the area’s southwestern edge, by an intersection of two pedestrian paths.

The inflatable screen faced north, with Miami’s skyline, including the InterContinental Hotel, providing a dramatic backdrop behind it, as planes going to and from Miami International Airport occasionally passed overhead. Folding chairs were available to rent to movie-goers who did not bring something on which to sit.

The Hertig family, who owned the cinema, already had a similar successful operation ongoing in Wildwood, New Jersey when they decided to try Miami.

Before the end of 2007, however, Movies by the Bay was dismantled and removed.

Contributed by David_Schneider

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

David_Schneider
David_Schneider on June 4, 2016 at 1:19 pm

I saw “Casino Royale” here in November of 2006. I enjoyed the skyline behind the screen and the planes passing by overhead though I felt like the film’s sound was not as good as in an enclosed theater (or was it were I was sitting?).

“Happy Feet” seemed to play for an extended time here.

A Miami New Times article: “Let’s All Go To The Movies by the Bay” about attending a movie here and the cinema’s uncertain future.

I vaguely remember perhaps hearing the cinema then moved to North Beach for a couple months before disappearing again.

Bayfront Park is where the annual Ultra Music Festival (electronic dance music) takes place, encompassing the entire park including where Movies on the Bay had been.

Fourth of July and New Years Eve events are held in the park, including the nationally televised Pitbull’s New Year’s Revolution.

Bayfront Park on Facebook.

Bayside Marketplace, an outdoor mall and tourist destination, is next to Bayfront Park.

A few yards directly south of where Movies by the Bay had been is the Dade County War Memorial (to residents who gave their lives in World War II), a peace pole… and the site of an assassination attempt against then President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt!

A historical marker set horizontally on the ground honors the Mayor of Chicago Anton Cermak, who was shot during the attempt and later died. Some ponder how the Great Depression and World War II might have turned out if Vice President-elect John Nance Garner had then been sworn in as president instead of Roosevelt.

A link to a short Youtube video regarding the event including archival footage.

Also see: http://miami-history.com/attempted-assassination-of-fdr-in-bayfront-park/

Wikipedia page for the would be assassin.

History of Bayfront Park webpage and Wikipedia page.

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