Surf Theatre
7420 Collins Avenue,
Miami Beach,
FL
33141
7420 Collins Avenue,
Miami Beach,
FL
33141
4 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Wometco Theatres
Architects: Robert E. Collins
Styles: Art Deco
Nearby Theaters
This mid-sized theatre was built in 1938 for and initially operated by Weingarten Theatres. Later taken over by Wometco Theatres. From time to time they ran first run films and second runs. I remember in the 1970’s the theatre ran the American Film Theatre subscription series which included “A Delicate Balance” with Katharine Hepburn.
Around 1989 Wometco gave up on this theatre and it ran as an independent house for a while. It was closed mid-to-late 1992. When last I heard the theatre had become a gymnasium, which has since closed. By early-2017 it had converted to retail use as a beachwear store. It had closed by December 2022.
Contributed by
Kitty
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Recent comments (view all 45 comments)
The Surf is now a retail store selling beachwear and assorted beach themed items.
Yes the former Surf Theatre is currently a souvenir, t-shirt and beach accessories store called Surf 7420.
Last night I sat in the Subway restaurant across the street like I did two years ago as mentioned in my previous comment and enjoyed what they’ve done to the front of the building: red neon lights around the perimeter of the marquee with the name “Surf” in the middle, small white lights that look like neon from afar underneath the marquee illuminating the entrance, and twinkling lights around the edges of the poster boxes.
The spirit of all this felt to me like they had made some effort to honor the building’s former life as a cinema.
Inside the fully renovated interior I did not notice any trace of the theatre but there’s a ton of items to look at in there and the environment was pleasant. (Look up the address on Google Maps for interior/daytime exterior photos.)
Updated: This became the RK (Ranaan Katz) Surf Cinema in the early 90’s when Katz purchased the property from Wometco. The last listings for any films that I have confirmed were from early 1993.The theater hosted some plays too throughout 1993 and part of 1994 but it seems by 1995 it was no longer being used for either films or live shows. By 1996, it became a Med Fit location and in subsequent years it functioned as the Condesa Gym for quite a long period as mentioned in the summary.
December 2022 street view shows the beach wear store going out of business as of then.
My first year there was 94 and the theater was open at least until the mid to last 90’s. They closed Regal opened a 4 screen theater around the corner. When it was a gym they kept videos and films on the screen while you worked out.
As I mentioned earlier, this became a Med Fit location by 1996. No movies or plays by that point. As to the Regal, that was the Loews Bay Harbor 4 which closed in 1999. There was no theater nearby other than the Byron Carlyle 7 which by that point (c. 1993 or 1994) was run By Cobb and closed by Regal in 1999. The Normandy closed in early 1989.
Aeterna yeah it was probably the first year I was there 94 when they had movies. The Byron Carlye was the theater I was thinking of. I saw Anger Management there. After Regal closed it it became a live theater and than a movie theater again but is probably closed now. I used to stay at the now demolished Deauville.
Correction: Regal closed both the Loews Bay Harbor 4 and the Byron in 2000. Not 1999. Yes, the city of Miami Beach used the Byron for various live events from 2001 to 2011. In 2011, a Broward theater company signed a 5 year lease but the director passed in the 4th year of that lease. O Cinema came in in 2014 and signed a 5 year lease which was not renewed. The theater has been dormant since late 2019.
Yes, Stage Door theater in Coral Springs Opened there until Dee passed in 2015. Her daughter ran the CS theater but it’s now defunct too.
There is a photo below of owner Raul Benitez sometime in the summer of 1989 so this must be the period after Wometco bowed out and before Katz purchased much of the property in the area.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/north-beach-looked-see-hotels-134447303.html