As seen on the photos page, there had been an incline from the sidewalk up to the theater entrance with movie poster boxes on either side. Now the front door to the gym is at the sidewalk.
There used to be a covered walkway from the entrance across the parking lot to businesses on the east side of the mall, which at the time were nightspots (Café Iguana, Fat Kats Poll Hall). Now the roof extending in front of the east entrance is all that is left and the walkway is completely gone.
Back in the 90’s I’d come out here for the Flippers video arcade a few storefronts north of the cinema which now looks to be a medical office. To me the vibe of the mall today is more about functionality while then it felt more like a place to also enjoy at night. I guess the nightlife aspect transferred to the other side of the Turnpike at the newer Kendall Village but to me it doesn’t feel the same.
Could be listed as “Gymnasium” under Functions.
Can be sublisted in the Kendall neighborhood of Miami.
The entire parking lot has been filled in with new buildings right up to the sidewalk of SW 88th Street/N. Kendall Drive in the past two years.
Yes, the address was 7440 SW 88th Street, Miami, FL 33156, which was never in the City of South Miami, but on the eastern edge of an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County known as Kendall.
Perhaps all the of listings for theaters along SW 88th Street/with “Kendall” in their names could be sublisted under “Kendall” as a neighborhood of Miami, and would still show up in the general list for theaters in Miami when a neighborhood is not selected.
I found an article length Miami Herald obituary for Andres Marrero del Campo, the owner of the Valentino, from January 4th, 2017, describing his life and career as a film exhibitor, in which his granddaughter Pricilla, who’s comment is above mine, is quoted:
I saw “The Legend of Bagger Vance” at the Valentino in 2000 and believe I remember him, smiling, as I bought my ticket and entered.
I would often think of the theater while driving past on 8th Street to and from Miccosukee Indian Gaming back in those days. It was the last business at the western edge of the strip mall with its entrance facing north, not a stand alone building.
“About [1912] another movie was opened in the ‘Hunter’ building on East Flagler Street, between First and Second avenues, called ‘The Wigwam,’ by the late Clifford Brown. Mr. Brown excelled his competitors by equipping his theater with a mirror screen and by giving away pianos and automobiles to the lucky winners among his patrons.”
Mr. Cohen’s phrasing seems to indicate the actual name was “The Arcade”.
Cinema Treasures changed my use of the words The Arcade in my original submission to Arcade Theater before posting and explained:
On the site we don’t use the word ‘The’ as part of theatre names as there would be possibly hundreds of ‘The’s’ and to find The Arcade when doing a search would be neigh impossible. Most people would search for Arcade, as theatres are listed alphabetically.
There are a few more theatres in there that came and went that are not listed on Cinema Treasures but there might not be much information about them outside of being mentioned therein.
I enjoy the part that says, after Kelly’s Theatre drove the Alcazar out of business, “Noting the victor’s apparent prosperity, one of our pioneer boys, Henry Chase (recently elected sheriff of Dade County), opened a movie theater in an old shack which stood on North First Avenue, where now stands the First Trust and Savings Bank building. That caricature of a theater served as a retreat for somnambulists and victims of insomnia.”
The latest I’ve read from December 2016 says the plan is to keep the façade of the Playhouse but to construct a different theater inside instead of restoring the interior:
Wow, back in the 90’s I’d walk past the sort of sealed up parts of the exterior of the façade along the sidewalk and wonder if there had been stores or something there, and if you look at the photo from the 1920’s it turns out they were storefronts.
For a year or so in 2014, the Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-in, now in Palmetto Bay near the Deering Estate, was located in the parking lot behind the Playhouse:
The Palmetto Bay location is amongst a cluster of businesses around an intersection in an otherwise residential area, including a Starbucks and a Sir Pizza across the street, two gas stations, a Subway, and a Farm Store next door. Getting here from the north can be a nice drive down Old Cutler Road.
The Deering Estate, open to the public, is the original building in the area and is one of the oldest structures in the county.
I remember there were a few artistic-looking perhaps Roman-like chunks of demolished Holsum Bakery architecture on display as a tribute to the former bakery on the floor of the lobby of the Bakery Centre shopping mall. They were removed by the time the Bakery Centre closed and I don’t know what became of them.
Btw, before 1927 South Miami was called Larkins, so old sources of information regarding the Riviera might list it under that town.
I remember there were a few artistic-looking perhaps Roman-like chunks of demolished Holsum Bakery architecture on display as a tribute on the floor of the lobby of the Bakery Centre shopping mall. Perhaps they had been part of the Riviera’s façade? They were removed by the time the Bakery Centre closed and I don’t know what became of them.
A Miami New Times article about historic buildings in the Miami area that were not saved mentions that the University of Miami School of Architecture suggested plans to incorporate the bakery into the design of the Bakery Centre, but that did not happen.
In 2005 this address became the northwest corner of the Town of Cutler Bay.
This page could be listed under Cutler Bay if moving it will not cause existing comments to be deleted.
Would moving it make the theater unfindable on Cinema Treasures to people who remember the area as a part of unincorporated Miami (Dade County) back when the theater was open?
If you look at the Best Buy from the 11941 South Dixie Highway angle on Google Street View on the Google Maps website then change the image to Nov 2007, an Azhar’s Oriental Rugs is where the Best Buy will later be.
Also what I remember back in the early 1990’s as being a blank marquee at the entrance to the parking lot by South Dixie Highway is the rug store’s sign on the left of the 2007 Street View image, then the Best Buy sign today.
I’ve seen a photo from the theater’s early days where it is a stand alone building with that marquee out by the highway, so the shopping center must have later been built on either side of it.
The theater’s address is correct based on old phone books but the address of the Best Buy is 11905 so the buildings may have been renumbered as businesses came and went.
The shopping center that the former theater was in is now on the western border of the Village of Pinecrest, which incorporated in 1996. This area was never part of the City of South Miami, which ends at SW 88th Street (Kendall Drive).
A copy of this photo from 1927, signed by photographer Verne O. Williams, hangs in the main hallway of South Miami City Hall along with many other interesting photos from the early years of South Miami.
Perhaps this is something like the view of the Riviera that passengers on the Florida East Coast Railway would have had while passing by on their way to or from Key West.
The FEC tracks were on the opposite side of South Dixie Highway from the Riviera where the elevated Metrorail that ends at Dadeland South is today.
Perhaps this is something like the view of the Riviera that passengers on the Florida East Coast Railway would have had while passing by on their way to or from Key West.
The FEC tracks were on the opposite side of South Dixie Highway from the Riviera where the elevated Metrorail that ends at Dadeland South is today.
In a photo of an overhead shot of the bakery property from February 7th, 1956 I found on page 126 in the South Miami chapter of the book “Coral Gables“ by Seth H. Bramson, the building that matches the former Riviera’s architecture looks to be at the northeast corner of SW 58th Avenue and South Dixie Highway with the rest of the bakery factory behind it. The building that is currently a Tire Kingdom car repair shop is to the right of the bakery/ex-Riviera across 58th in the photo but with a solid wall as the garage bays were yet to be installed.
I assume this Riviera would have been South Miami’s first cinema, since I have not heard of any previous. It also would have been a virtual contemporary of Coral Gables’ first cinema, the Dream Theater.
On the South Miami page of a “Remembering Old Miami” blog, a person posting on March 10th, 2016 says they had worked for the Holsum bakery from 1967-1970 and “used to go and explore the attic area of the old theater section of the bakery back then. It still had a lot of stage props stored up there”. … This reminds me I once heard the Riviera had sometimes also hosted live performances.
I vaguely remember hearing a story about a nice organ that had been obtained to provide music for the Riviera that then didn’t get to be used due to the hurricane, though I don’t have the details or know for sure if this happened.
The entrance to the AMC Bakery Centre 7 faced Red Road, approximately opposite to the intersection of Red Road and San Ignacio Avenue. (If you were to stand back then in front of what is now Shula’s 347 Grill at 6915 Red Road, Coral Gables and looked across Red Road, you would have seen the theater entrance.)
There was several feet of open tiled space between the sidewalk and the entrance that was slightly lower than the sidewalk. You’d go down maybe three steps then walk through the open space flanked by movie poster boxes on the angled side walls to reach the front doors.
The marquee was a tall sign on the corner of South Dixie Highway and Red Road, on the edge of what was the Bakery Center parking lot across Red Road from what is still Wendy’s. The former parking lot is now filled in by The Shops at Sunset Place.
Google says it is “permanently closed”. No longer listed in Miami Herald movie times. Facebook link mentioned by Al Alvarez no longer available. Couldn’t find movie times online.
It’s now a gym called 24 Hour Fitness.
As seen on the photos page, there had been an incline from the sidewalk up to the theater entrance with movie poster boxes on either side. Now the front door to the gym is at the sidewalk.
There used to be a covered walkway from the entrance across the parking lot to businesses on the east side of the mall, which at the time were nightspots (Café Iguana, Fat Kats Poll Hall). Now the roof extending in front of the east entrance is all that is left and the walkway is completely gone.
Back in the 90’s I’d come out here for the Flippers video arcade a few storefronts north of the cinema which now looks to be a medical office. To me the vibe of the mall today is more about functionality while then it felt more like a place to also enjoy at night. I guess the nightlife aspect transferred to the other side of the Turnpike at the newer Kendall Village but to me it doesn’t feel the same.
Could be listed as “Gymnasium” under Functions.
Can be sublisted in the Kendall neighborhood of Miami.
Someone has a Facebook page for people to post about the old Kendall Town & Country mall.
Name of theater is now Regal Kendall Village Stadium 16 IMAX & RPX.
Actual address is 8585 SW 124th Ave, Miami, FL 33183, and can be sublisted in the Kendall neighborhood of Miami.
Official website is:
http://www.regmovies.com/Theatres/Theatre-Folder/Regal-Kendall-Village-Stadium-16-IMAX-RPX-7770
The entire parking lot has been filled in with new buildings right up to the sidewalk of SW 88th Street/N. Kendall Drive in the past two years.
Yes, the address was 7440 SW 88th Street, Miami, FL 33156, which was never in the City of South Miami, but on the eastern edge of an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County known as Kendall.
Perhaps all the of listings for theaters along SW 88th Street/with “Kendall” in their names could be sublisted under “Kendall” as a neighborhood of Miami, and would still show up in the general list for theaters in Miami when a neighborhood is not selected.
I found an article length Miami Herald obituary for Andres Marrero del Campo, the owner of the Valentino, from January 4th, 2017, describing his life and career as a film exhibitor, in which his granddaughter Pricilla, who’s comment is above mine, is quoted:
“Theater owner who brought American movies to Spanish-speaking audiences dies at 82”
I saw “The Legend of Bagger Vance” at the Valentino in 2000 and believe I remember him, smiling, as I bought my ticket and entered.
I would often think of the theater while driving past on 8th Street to and from Miccosukee Indian Gaming back in those days. It was the last business at the western edge of the strip mall with its entrance facing north, not a stand alone building.
In a chapter entitled “Development of Miami’s Theaters” of the book “Historical Sketches And Sidelights Of Miami, Florida" printed in 1925, local author Isidor Cohen mentions:
“About [1912] another movie was opened in the ‘Hunter’ building on East Flagler Street, between First and Second avenues, called ‘The Wigwam,’ by the late Clifford Brown. Mr. Brown excelled his competitors by equipping his theater with a mirror screen and by giving away pianos and automobiles to the lucky winners among his patrons.”
Mr. Cohen’s phrasing seems to indicate the actual name was “The Arcade”.
Cinema Treasures changed my use of the words The Arcade in my original submission to Arcade Theater before posting and explained:
On the site we don’t use the word ‘The’ as part of theatre names as there would be possibly hundreds of ‘The’s’ and to find The Arcade when doing a search would be neigh impossible. Most people would search for Arcade, as theatres are listed alphabetically.
Compare the historic photo to the present day Street View image for a look at now versus the 1910’s, with the Burdine’s/Macy’s building still present.
Cinema Treasures page for other Air Domes.
Cinema Treasures page for The Arcade
Check out the complete text of the “Development of Miami’s Theaters” chapter of Isidor Cohen’s book.
There are a few more theatres in there that came and went that are not listed on Cinema Treasures but there might not be much information about them outside of being mentioned therein.
I enjoy the part that says, after Kelly’s Theatre drove the Alcazar out of business, “Noting the victor’s apparent prosperity, one of our pioneer boys, Henry Chase (recently elected sheriff of Dade County), opened a movie theater in an old shack which stood on North First Avenue, where now stands the First Trust and Savings Bank building. That caricature of a theater served as a retreat for somnambulists and victims of insomnia.”
Here’s a link to the article “Miami Avenue & Flagler Street in 1913” on the miami-history.com website.
Compare the historic photo to the present day Street View image for a look at now versus the 1910’s, with the Burdine’s/Macy’s building still present.
Cinema Treasures page for the other Air Domes.
An article in the January 27, 1975 issue of Box Office: “Nickel Shows, Live Music, Tents: Miami’s Early Film Days Recalled”
The latest I’ve read from December 2016 says the plan is to keep the façade of the Playhouse but to construct a different theater inside instead of restoring the interior:
“To Be or Not to Be (small): Is Size Key to Grove Playhouse Revival?”
“Coconut Grove Playhouse Restoration Plans are B.S., Preservationists Say”
I have uploaded photos of a historical marker that was placed next to the Playhouse entrance sometime in the past year or so.
Coconut Grove Playhouse Foundation website.
Wow, back in the 90’s I’d walk past the sort of sealed up parts of the exterior of the façade along the sidewalk and wonder if there had been stores or something there, and if you look at the photo from the 1920’s it turns out they were storefronts.
For a year or so in 2014, the Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-in, now in Palmetto Bay near the Deering Estate, was located in the parking lot behind the Playhouse:
“Blue Starlite Drive-in Finds New Home at Old Coconut Grove Playhouse“
The Palmetto Bay location is amongst a cluster of businesses around an intersection in an otherwise residential area, including a Starbucks and a Sir Pizza across the street, two gas stations, a Subway, and a Farm Store next door. Getting here from the north can be a nice drive down Old Cutler Road.
The Deering Estate, open to the public, is the original building in the area and is one of the oldest structures in the county.
Cinema Treasures page for the original Austin, TX location.
Blue Starlite in the media page.
Newspaper Articles:
At current Palmetto Bay location:
“Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-in Invokes Nostalgia in New Palmetto Bay Location”
“The Blue Starlite Urban Drive-in Gets New Home on Old Cutler Road“
When it was at Kennedy Park:
“Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-in‘s ‘Blue Starlite By The Bay‘ at Kennedy Park”
When it was behind Coconut Grove Playhouse:
“Blue Starlite Drive-in Finds New Home at Old Coconut Grove Playhouse“
When it first opened in Wynwood:
“Blue Starlite Miami Urban Drive-in Announces Grand Opening”
“Boutique Drive-in Movie Theater to Open in Wynwood”
“Blue Starlite Miami Urban Drive-in Opening: Inside Wynwood‘s New Vintage Movie Theater”
When it’s at Virginia Key:
“Blue Starlite Drive-in Theater Expands to Virginia Key Beach”
Blue Starlite’s webpage for summers in Colorado.
I remember there were a few artistic-looking perhaps Roman-like chunks of demolished Holsum Bakery architecture on display as a tribute to the former bakery on the floor of the lobby of the Bakery Centre shopping mall. They were removed by the time the Bakery Centre closed and I don’t know what became of them.
Perhaps they had been part of the original Riviera Theatre?
Btw, before 1927 South Miami was called Larkins, so old sources of information regarding the Riviera might list it under that town.
I remember there were a few artistic-looking perhaps Roman-like chunks of demolished Holsum Bakery architecture on display as a tribute on the floor of the lobby of the Bakery Centre shopping mall. Perhaps they had been part of the Riviera’s façade? They were removed by the time the Bakery Centre closed and I don’t know what became of them.
A Miami New Times article about historic buildings in the Miami area that were not saved mentions that the University of Miami School of Architecture suggested plans to incorporate the bakery into the design of the Bakery Centre, but that did not happen.
In 2005 this address became the northwest corner of the Town of Cutler Bay.
This page could be listed under Cutler Bay if moving it will not cause existing comments to be deleted.
Would moving it make the theater unfindable on Cinema Treasures to people who remember the area as a part of unincorporated Miami (Dade County) back when the theater was open?
This theater is within the Town of Cutler Bay and should be listed there like the Cutler Ridge Cinema is which had been on the same property.
The address is otherwise correct.
David Schillhammer, former director of the Orlando Philharmonic, is taking over as the Enzian’s executive director:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/os-enzian-new-director-20170104-story.html
What was the Suniland Triple is now a Best Buy.
A post from November 9th, 2007 on a “Remembering Old Miami” blog says “You grew up in Miami if you remember” followed by a list that includes “Sunniland (sic) Theater where the Oriental Rug place is now”.
If you look at the Best Buy from the 11941 South Dixie Highway angle on Google Street View on the Google Maps website then change the image to Nov 2007, an Azhar’s Oriental Rugs is where the Best Buy will later be.
Also what I remember back in the early 1990’s as being a blank marquee at the entrance to the parking lot by South Dixie Highway is the rug store’s sign on the left of the 2007 Street View image, then the Best Buy sign today.
I’ve seen a photo from the theater’s early days where it is a stand alone building with that marquee out by the highway, so the shopping center must have later been built on either side of it.
The theater’s address is correct based on old phone books but the address of the Best Buy is 11905 so the buildings may have been renumbered as businesses came and went.
The shopping center that the former theater was in is now on the western border of the Village of Pinecrest, which incorporated in 1996. This area was never part of the City of South Miami, which ends at SW 88th Street (Kendall Drive).
A copy of this photo from 1927, signed by photographer Verne O. Williams, hangs in the main hallway of South Miami City Hall along with many other interesting photos from the early years of South Miami.
Perhaps this is something like the view of the Riviera that passengers on the Florida East Coast Railway would have had while passing by on their way to or from Key West.
The FEC tracks were on the opposite side of South Dixie Highway from the Riviera where the elevated Metrorail that ends at Dadeland South is today.
I have created a Cinema Treasures page for the first theatre in the area to be named Riviera, which was briefly open in the mid-1920’s just south of this Riviera, before becoming part of the Holsum bakery.
Perhaps this is something like the view of the Riviera that passengers on the Florida East Coast Railway would have had while passing by on their way to or from Key West.
The FEC tracks were on the opposite side of South Dixie Highway from the Riviera where the elevated Metrorail that ends at Dadeland South is today.
The Riviera appears in this Youtube video of “A Brief History of South Miami” beginning at 5:03.
In a photo of an overhead shot of the bakery property from February 7th, 1956 I found on page 126 in the South Miami chapter of the book “Coral Gables“ by Seth H. Bramson, the building that matches the former Riviera’s architecture looks to be at the northeast corner of SW 58th Avenue and South Dixie Highway with the rest of the bakery factory behind it. The building that is currently a Tire Kingdom car repair shop is to the right of the bakery/ex-Riviera across 58th in the photo but with a solid wall as the garage bays were yet to be installed.
I assume this Riviera would have been South Miami’s first cinema, since I have not heard of any previous. It also would have been a virtual contemporary of Coral Gables’ first cinema, the Dream Theater.
On the South Miami page of a “Remembering Old Miami” blog, a person posting on March 10th, 2016 says they had worked for the Holsum bakery from 1967-1970 and “used to go and explore the attic area of the old theater section of the bakery back then. It still had a lot of stage props stored up there”. … This reminds me I once heard the Riviera had sometimes also hosted live performances.
I vaguely remember hearing a story about a nice organ that had been obtained to provide music for the Riviera that then didn’t get to be used due to the hurricane, though I don’t have the details or know for sure if this happened.
Some Dorn brothers buildings from the 1920’s still exist at the corner of South Dixie Highway and Sunset Drive, viewable on Google Street View at 5904 Sunset Drive. The City of South Miami declared them historic in August of 2005, and a bronze commemorative plaque placed on the east side facing SW 59th Avenue was unveiled in October of 2008.
In Homestead, the original small Fuchs Bakery building is at 102 South Krome Avenue and has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
As I post this, I’m sitting in Barnes & Nobles Sunset Place, yards from where this Riviera once stood.
The entrance to the AMC Bakery Centre 7 faced Red Road, approximately opposite to the intersection of Red Road and San Ignacio Avenue. (If you were to stand back then in front of what is now Shula’s 347 Grill at 6915 Red Road, Coral Gables and looked across Red Road, you would have seen the theater entrance.)
There was several feet of open tiled space between the sidewalk and the entrance that was slightly lower than the sidewalk. You’d go down maybe three steps then walk through the open space flanked by movie poster boxes on the angled side walls to reach the front doors.
The marquee was a tall sign on the corner of South Dixie Highway and Red Road, on the edge of what was the Bakery Center parking lot across Red Road from what is still Wendy’s. The former parking lot is now filled in by The Shops at Sunset Place.
Showtimes available online even though theater still not listed on the Miami Herald’s movie times page.
Yes I believe status should be changed to closed.
Google says it is “permanently closed”. No longer listed in Miami Herald movie times. Facebook link mentioned by Al Alvarez no longer available. Couldn’t find movie times online.
The actual address according to their website and Google Maps is 3701 NE 163rd Street, North Miami Beach, FL 33160.
The theater is operating yet is still not listed in the Miami Herald’s movie times though it used to be under previous owners/names.
Wow Joe Vogel, thanks for the info!
Cool photo from 1923. Gosh, the whole block pictured is just gone now and not replaced by anything in Google Street View.