I wouldn’t know. I’m just a fan of the moviegoing experience and cinema history. I found the article and figured I’d post a link to it while stating why it seemed relevant to this page based on what the article describes.
As I prepare to go see the just released “Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker”, the final entry in the Star Wars saga, I’m thinking about this cinema, the South Shore Mall Twin, where I saw the first Star Wars movies almost 40 years ago in the early 1980’s (see my previous comment directly above).
The LA Times article mentioned by DavidZornig includes island resident’s feelings regarding their relationship to the Avalon, and says it was “the first cinema in the world designed for talkies”.
Came across this photo of a Miami Transit Company bus in front of the Olympia marquee in I’m assuming 1961 since the original “The Parent Trap” is being shown. The marquee looks larger and more traditional than today’s electronic one:
Miami Herald article from September 26, 2015 about Steven Krams, who ran a cinema equipment business in Miami for decades, supervised the design and outfitting of the Coral Gables Art Cinema, and has served as executive director of its board:
Miami Herald article from October 16th, 2019 about the O Cinema folks holding screenings at venues around the Wynwood neighborhood in response to locals who miss their movie theater:
The O Cinema website no longer lists North Beach (called Miami Beach on the site before they opened South Beach) as a location, meaning this O Cinema is closed, leaving South Beach (the former Miami Beach Cinematheque) as the only O Cinema for the time being.
So for now Miami-Dade County has 4 art cinemas left, down from 7 a couple years ago. Those remaining are: Coral Gables Art Cinema, Bill Cosford Cinema (on the University of Miami campus), Tower Theater (on 8th Street in the Little Havana neighborhood), and O Cinema South Beach.
Also here’s a webpage regarding art film screenings at various locations around South Florida that might be useful:
The South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center located just south of the mall across SW 211 Street holds a monthly film screening series called Indie Flicks.
Click here to see an interesting segment from 2019 about the Paramount in the “History & Culture of the Palm Beaches” episode of the PBS program “On The Town in The Palm Beaches”.
As seen in the video Paramount Church occupies part of the building, with the Historic Paramount Photographic Exhibit in the former theater’s lobby as a tribute to the Paramount, the films that were screened there, and the celebrities that had visited, open to the public Monday through Friday 9am-4pm.
Click here for a detailed page on the church’s website about the Paramount’s history, its auditorium, film exhibition history, and more.
I wonder if Bill has some photos he could share with us on Cinema Treasures. I enjoy images of small theaters.
I wonder what the space is now. I visited the shopping center in July 2019 and don’t recall seeing a Domino’s Pizza there and I wasn’t sure where the City Lights had been.
Ernie Pyle’s house is a public library branch and historic site that includes books written by and about him that you can peruse while in rooms he had once inhabited:
The Nite Owl’s Yelp page marks it as “closed”, its official website lists no upcoming screenings beyond May 5th, and comments on its Facebook page are months old…
Oh no I didn’t get to go. I had wanted to see what the vibe of the place felt like.
Click here to view a photo from the Miami-Dade Public Library’s Gleason Waite Romer collection of the Riviera with the Florida East Coast Railway tracks in the foreground.
Note if you click on the arrow button in the upper right corner you get an expanded photo with the ability to zoom in, (though the movie posters out front are not quite legible).
I’ve been waiting for this photo to be digitized since I first found it mentioned a couple years ago in the library’s listings then was shown the original negative when I asked about it at the Main Library.
The road in the photo between the tracks and the theatre is US-1/South Dixie Highway, now expanded to 6 lanes, (and extended to Key West as 2 lanes). The tracks have been removed and the former FEC right-of-way is occupied by the county’s elevated Metrorail electric passenger train line that ends at Dadeland South.
If you were to stand under the Metrorail tracks across US-1 from the Sunset Place parking garage that now exists where this Riviera Theatre had been at the corner of SW 70th Street and US-1/South Dixie Highway, then gaze towards that corner, you would be standing about where the photographer was positioned in 1926.
(SW 70th Street becomes SW 58th Avenue just beyond the corner past Tire Kingdom. In Google Street View the address 5794 South Dixie Highway, South Miami, FL gives an image of the corner/parking garage where the Riviera had been.)
Here is the webpage for the April/June 2010 alumni newsletter of the Coral Gables High School Class of 1956 with some more of the Junior League’s guide to historic sites in Coral Gables from 1986 (scroll down till you see it):
I visited the lobby of this Bank of America branch on June 19th, 2019.
The architecture around the rear door that exits to the parking lot looked to me like it might be left over from the Dream Theater, and I enjoyed the feeling that the staircase at the right rear of the lobby that leads to the tower and offices above the door may be the same once used by the projectionists.
Click here for a photo taken from the parking lot in 1986 and some more description.
You can now visit the parking lot virtually via Google Street View images taken in February 2019 to see where the outdoor auditorium had been, the back of the building, and projection booth tower.
This Miami Herald article about O Cinema having taken over the Miami Beach Cinematheque, says this location will close at the end of October because the city will not renew a lease for a building that needs to be recertified since it is more than 50 years old:
It also says the property may be redeveloped into something that is required to include ten thousand square feet of cultural space that might house a new O Cinema.
On August 1st, 2019, O Cinema took over day-to-day operations of the Miami Beach Cinematheque, renaming it O Cinema South Beach, as this Miami Herald article from the August 4th print edition describes:
Dana Keith, who founded the Cinematheque originally as a permanent home for his Miami Beach Film Society, will now have more time to devote to curating the film memorabilia Miami Beach Cinematheque Interactive Archive Project, while continuing to program ongoing Film Society events at this, his former location.
I hope the future of the Olympia is well.
Miami Herald article from December 28, 2019 about the family of Maurice Gusman trying to get control of the Olympia back from the City of Miami:
“He Donated Olympia Theater to Miami Decades Ago. Now His Family Wants It Back”
And another from the December 10th Miami Today newspaper with links to related articles on the right hand of the page:
“Cliffhanger at the Gusman Meets New and Frightening Peril”
Al, I had been wondering if you knew of him.
I wouldn’t know. I’m just a fan of the moviegoing experience and cinema history. I found the article and figured I’d post a link to it while stating why it seemed relevant to this page based on what the article describes.
As I prepare to go see the just released “Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker”, the final entry in the Star Wars saga, I’m thinking about this cinema, the South Shore Mall Twin, where I saw the first Star Wars movies almost 40 years ago in the early 1980’s (see my previous comment directly above).
The LA Times article mentioned by DavidZornig includes island resident’s feelings regarding their relationship to the Avalon, and says it was “the first cinema in the world designed for talkies”.
CBS Morning News segments from 11/22-23/2019 regarding the documentary Comfortably Cool just mentioned:
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/telling-the-story-of-the-apollo-was-an-overwhelming-task-filmmaker/
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/new-hbo-documentary-highlights-apollo-theaters-legacy/
Came across this photo of a Miami Transit Company bus in front of the Olympia marquee in I’m assuming 1961 since the original “The Parent Trap” is being shown. The marquee looks larger and more traditional than today’s electronic one:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/autobuses/8331559650/in/album-72157677675938345/
Miami Herald article from September 26, 2015 about Steven Krams, who ran a cinema equipment business in Miami for decades, supervised the design and outfitting of the Coral Gables Art Cinema, and has served as executive director of its board:
“Steven Krams, Miami’s Movie Man: For the Love of Film — and Projectors, Too”
Miami Herald article from October 16th, 2019 about the O Cinema folks holding screenings at venues around the Wynwood neighborhood in response to locals who miss their movie theater:
O Cinema is Returning to Wynwood — But In a Radically Different Model
The O Cinema website no longer lists North Beach (called Miami Beach on the site before they opened South Beach) as a location, meaning this O Cinema is closed, leaving South Beach (the former Miami Beach Cinematheque) as the only O Cinema for the time being.
So for now Miami-Dade County has 4 art cinemas left, down from 7 a couple years ago. Those remaining are: Coral Gables Art Cinema, Bill Cosford Cinema (on the University of Miami campus), Tower Theater (on 8th Street in the Little Havana neighborhood), and O Cinema South Beach.
Also here’s a webpage regarding art film screenings at various locations around South Florida that might be useful:
https://www.miamiartguide.com/category/cinema-1/
The South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center located just south of the mall across SW 211 Street holds a monthly film screening series called Indie Flicks.
Albuquerque Journal article from October 6th, 2019 about the history of the naming of the KiMo:
“Six Letters or Less: KiMo Theatre Naming Process Utilized the Power of Community”
Also there’s a recently released book: “KiMo Theatre: Fact & Folklore”
Click here to see an interesting segment from 2019 about the Paramount in the “History & Culture of the Palm Beaches” episode of the PBS program “On The Town in The Palm Beaches”.
As seen in the video Paramount Church occupies part of the building, with the Historic Paramount Photographic Exhibit in the former theater’s lobby as a tribute to the Paramount, the films that were screened there, and the celebrities that had visited, open to the public Monday through Friday 9am-4pm.
Click here for a detailed page on the church’s website about the Paramount’s history, its auditorium, film exhibition history, and more.
The church also hosts Paramount Theater Movie Classics, a series showing old movies also open to the public.
A May 25th, 2013 article in the Santa Fe New Mexican from owner Bill Hill:
“Reader View: Movie-House History — Don’t Forget City Lights”
I wonder if Bill has some photos he could share with us on Cinema Treasures. I enjoy images of small theaters.
I wonder what the space is now. I visited the shopping center in July 2019 and don’t recall seeing a Domino’s Pizza there and I wasn’t sure where the City Lights had been.
I visited the CCA Cinematheque on July 12, 2019 during a trip to New Mexico.
There are 2 screens with a total of 163 seats.
The larger auditorium has 111 seats.
The smaller auditorium with 52 seats is nicknamed The Studio.
Click here for the Cinematheque’s schedule.
Ernie Pyle’s house is a public library branch and historic site that includes books written by and about him that you can peruse while in rooms he had once inhabited:
https://abqlibrary.org/erniepyle
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60933-d6609215-Reviews-Ernie_Pyle_Library-Albuquerque_New_Mexico.html
https://www.yelp.com/biz/ernie-pyle-library-albuquerque
The Nite Owl’s Yelp page marks it as “closed”, its official website lists no upcoming screenings beyond May 5th, and comments on its Facebook page are months old…
Oh no I didn’t get to go. I had wanted to see what the vibe of the place felt like.
Sun-Sentinel newspaper article from August 8th, 2019:
“Plantation’s Mercede Theater Gone, But Great Memories Will Live On”
Also, the former theater is now viewable on Google Street View with its poster boxes empty.
The article mentions the building is likely to be torn down in the coming months.
Click here to view a photo from the Miami-Dade Public Library’s Gleason Waite Romer collection of the Riviera with the Florida East Coast Railway tracks in the foreground.
Note if you click on the arrow button in the upper right corner you get an expanded photo with the ability to zoom in, (though the movie posters out front are not quite legible).
I’ve been waiting for this photo to be digitized since I first found it mentioned a couple years ago in the library’s listings then was shown the original negative when I asked about it at the Main Library.
This is the view passengers had while riding past on FEC trains that back then traveled all the way to Key West.
The road in the photo between the tracks and the theatre is US-1/South Dixie Highway, now expanded to 6 lanes, (and extended to Key West as 2 lanes). The tracks have been removed and the former FEC right-of-way is occupied by the county’s elevated Metrorail electric passenger train line that ends at Dadeland South.
If you were to stand under the Metrorail tracks across US-1 from the Sunset Place parking garage that now exists where this Riviera Theatre had been at the corner of SW 70th Street and US-1/South Dixie Highway, then gaze towards that corner, you would be standing about where the photographer was positioned in 1926.
(SW 70th Street becomes SW 58th Avenue just beyond the corner past Tire Kingdom. In Google Street View the address 5794 South Dixie Highway, South Miami, FL gives an image of the corner/parking garage where the Riviera had been.)
Here is the webpage for the April/June 2010 alumni newsletter of the Coral Gables High School Class of 1956 with some more of the Junior League’s guide to historic sites in Coral Gables from 1986 (scroll down till you see it):
http://www.gables56.com/newsletterarchive/nwsltr.015.0410.html
I visited the lobby of this Bank of America branch on June 19th, 2019.
The architecture around the rear door that exits to the parking lot looked to me like it might be left over from the Dream Theater, and I enjoyed the feeling that the staircase at the right rear of the lobby that leads to the tower and offices above the door may be the same once used by the projectionists.
Click here for a photo taken from the parking lot in 1986 and some more description.
You can now visit the parking lot virtually via Google Street View images taken in February 2019 to see where the outdoor auditorium had been, the back of the building, and projection booth tower.
Miami New Times article from August 5th, 2019 about O Cinema having taken over operations of the Miami Beach Cinematheque:
“O Cinema Cofounder Kareem Tabsch on Expanding to South Beach After Leaving Wynwood”
This Miami Herald article about O Cinema having taken over the Miami Beach Cinematheque, says this location will close at the end of October because the city will not renew a lease for a building that needs to be recertified since it is more than 50 years old:
“The Next O Cinema is Opening At a South Beach Location Already Beloved by Film Fans“
It also says the property may be redeveloped into something that is required to include ten thousand square feet of cultural space that might house a new O Cinema.
Miami New Times article:
“O Cinema Cofounder Kareem Tabsch on Expanding to South Beach After Leaving Wynwood”
On August 1st, 2019, O Cinema took over day-to-day operations of the Miami Beach Cinematheque, renaming it O Cinema South Beach, as this Miami Herald article from the August 4th print edition describes:
“The Next O Cinema is Opening At a South Beach Location Already Beloved by Film Fans“
Miami New Times article:
“O Cinema Cofounder Kareem Tabsch on Expanding to South Beach After Leaving Wynwood”
Dana Keith, who founded the Cinematheque originally as a permanent home for his Miami Beach Film Society, will now have more time to devote to curating the film memorabilia Miami Beach Cinematheque Interactive Archive Project, while continuing to program ongoing Film Society events at this, his former location.
The building is now the Trinity Faith Tabernacle.
In the photo on their Facebook page of the church’s refurbished façade, there is what looks like a historical marker to the right of the door. I can’t read it but wonder if it makes a reference to the Ace.
Robboehm, yes I created a Cinema Treasures page for the CCA Cinematheque yesterday. : )