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mh95 A WELCOME GUEST ON DECO RESTORATION SCENE 08/06/1995
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1995, The Miami Herald
DATE: Sunday, August 6, 1995 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: NEIGHBORS MB PAGE: 1 LENGTH: 104 lines
ILLUSTRATION: color photo: Hotel Astor swimming pool and deck (a) ;
photo: Hotel Astor lobb (a) , Hotel Astor entrance (a) , Astor
living room suite (a)
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: FRAN BRENNAN Herald Staff Writer PATRICK FARRELL /
Herald Staff
MEMO: COVER STORY See IF YOU GO box at end of text
A WELCOME GUEST ON DECO RESTORATTON SCENE
When 26-year-old Beatrice Lippman managed the Hotel Astor in 1941, Miami
Beach was a very different place. So was the Astor.
The hotel was strictly kosher; the clientele, mostly Canadian.
Celebrities were not among the throngs of guests who crowded the three-story,
Art Deco hotel, which sported pastel hues and etched racing stripes.
Like Miami Beach, the Astor has been reborn.
After nearly two years of planning, renovation and some controversy, the
doors opened Friday to a newly restored Hotel Astor, 956 Washington Ave.
"It's like an oasis on Washington Avenue, " general manager Brian Safier
said, touring the hotel's pool and patio area. "We're very pleased with the
way the project has come out. "
So is Randall Robinson, historic preservation director for the Miami
Design Preservation League. The league had problems early on with Safier's
plans for the hotel and claimed too many of the interior details were being
sacrificed. Designed by architect T. Hunter Henderson and built in 1936, the
Astor had too much history to gut, preservationists said.
The group marked a victory, however, when city boards agreed the hotel
should retain certain original characteristics. Chief among them: a desk in
the lobby and several yards of Vitrolite, pigmented structural glass in mint
green with cream and black details. The Vitrolite now lines the lobby walls as
well as the original desk.
"It's a level of renovation that has rarely been seen in the historic
district, " Robinson said. "And we're also happy to see that at least some of
the interior Vitrolite has been preserved. "
Yet despite the fact that Safier and Renaissance Development spent nearly
$3 million on the project and produced an elegant hotel, they did not complete
a "true restoration, " Robinson said.
"There's no question that the level of detail and the quality of finishes
is very good," he said. "But that doesn't mean it's a true restoration. To
their credit, they've done things other property owners haven't done. They've
restored the original signage. They've gone to the expense of putting in
casement windows. They're not the original casement windows, but it's very,
very encouraging."
Safier says the original aluminum sign and other preserved details
provided much of the inspiration for the project. The curved Deco "A" from the
hotel's sign now adorns every towel, matchbook, frosted glass window and
porthole in the 42-room inn. Original elevator doors have been painted with an
aluminum finish to match stair railings.
mommw
The diamond motif of the lobby's terrazzo floors is copied in a rug with
a harlequin pattern. Modern amenities such as 25- inch televisions, voice
mail, a spa pool and stereos help bring the hotel up to date. Blond oak
furniture and cream- colored walls are complemented by overstuffed couches
and touches of black.
Lippman, who remembers learning that war was declared in Europe while
she was at the Astor, said the face lift couldn't happen to a nicer place.
"It's wonderful that they've done it over, because it had nice
possibilities, " said Lippman, a New York native now retired to North Miami
Beach. "The colors they were using then were pastels, the aqua and things.
They were too sharp. "
But that didn't deter guests, Lippman said. The place was usually full.
And Safier believes that's another of the Astor's features he can copy --
despite competition from the Raleigh and more recently unveiled Delano,
similarly upscale projects.
"There is a market for the type of hotel we' re creating, " Safier said.
"When you see more hotels of a higher- line nature, that will bring in that
type of customer. It's a multiplier effect. "
Commissioner Neisen Kasdin agrees there is a place in South Beach for
projects like the Astor. Despite his preservationist leanings, Kasdin
considers Renaissance's investment in the area laudable.
"I would say there's much more invested there than almost any other hotel
project done recently in South Beach, " Kasdin said. "They did a beautiful job
on it. This is an evolution of the building. It is not 100 percent
historically accurate. But it is an evolution that is an improvement. And its
major historical components are respected.
"It's nice to see projects that are done to this level, " Kasdin added.
"But part of the charm of South Beach is that things are not done to such a
fine state. Should everything be like this? No, then the neighborhood would
lose its interest."
IF YOU GO
Rooms at the Astor run the gamut from deluxe to junior suite to the
1, 100-square-foot Astor Suite, which has one and a half baths, a balcony,
whirlpool tub and wet bar.
Rates range from $75 to $350 per night, depending on the room and the
season. Call 531-8081.
The hotel currently has room service and a patio cafe. Restaurateur
Dennis Max plans to open the 180-seat Astor Place in October.
CUTLINES:
EW AGAIN ON WASHINGTON: The Hotel Astor has been refurbished inside and
out. While preservationists had reservations about the original restoration
plans, the finished product has managed to give most everyone something to
like.
PLUSH: The living room of the Astor Suite features overstuffed couches
and an up-to-date entertainment system.
DOORS ARE OPEN: The facade of the Hotel Astor, 956 Washington Ave. The
hotel was designed by architect T. Hunter Henderson and built in 1936.
TOUCHES OF THE PAST: The original desk in the lobby was retained, as was
some Vitrolite, pigmented structural glass that now lines the lobby walls.
TAG: 9502200049
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mh95 LUCKY THIS TIME, WILL 08/02/1995
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mh95 CUTTING-EDGE FRENCH DESIGNER TAKES A SLICE AT MIAMI 06/30/1995
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1995, The Miami Herald
DATE: Friday, June 30, 1995 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 2B LENGTH: 88 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: Ian Schrager (a) , Gwen BOYD
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: JOAN FLEISCHMAN Herald Columnist
MEMO: TALK OF OUR TOWN
CUTTING-EDGE FRENCH DESIGNER TAKES A SLICE AT MIAMI
Parlez-vous English?
New York hotelman Ian Schrager is wringing his hands. Here his $22
million baby -- the remodeled Delano Hotel on Miami Beach -- opens today, and
his cutting-edge French designer Philippe Starck is telling everyone Miami is
a city of "terrible" style, "not very sophisticated."
"An unfortunate misunderstanding, " insists Schrager. "He may have said
things that offended people. It hurts me because we were very careful not to
come down to Miami like big shots, not to come down here and tell people the
way things are meant to be done. "
Schrager says Starck is misunderstood. "There's a language problem. He's
French. Sometimes he says things, and they sort of get misconstrued. Not
misquoted."
Again and again? To The New York Times? To Vanity Fair? And most
recently, to The Herald? Did everyone get it wrong?
"He didn't mean that. It's not the way he feels -- and it's certainly not
the way I feel. What he's alluding to is that we're trying to do something
special. We're trying to take Miami into the next century."
Starck was not around to say how he feels. He's in Singapore, undoubtedly
a stylish and sophisticated place.
A Major wedding: Miami police Maj . Gwen Boyd married Miami police Maj .
Roberson Brown. Boyd, 41, a 21-year veteran who heads the detective bureau,
first met Brown, 42, a personnel manager, when he joined the force in 1981.
"I taught his class when he went through the police academy, " she says.
She now calls herself Maj . Brown, too.
Among the guests: Miami Police Chief Don Warshaw; former Chief Clarence
Dickson, one of Brown's best men; Urban League President T. Willard Fair;
Miami Commissioner Willie Gort; Assistant City Manager Angela Bellamy; Florida
City Police Chief Art Washington; and civic activist Georgia Jones-Ayers. She
sang The Bells of St. Mary's and The Lord's Prayer. A 10-member Honor Guard,
which Brown commands, formed an arch with their swords for the couple to walk
under after their nuptials. At the reception, the Honor Guard had to forgo the
bubbly -- no drinking in uniform allowed.
Maj . Brown and Maj . Brown honeymooned in the Caribbean, aboard the
Norwegian Cruise Line's Seaward.
"Not the one that caught on fire, " says Maj . Brown. Roberson, that is.
The Dade state attorney's office won't prosecute Armando Pico, the
WLTV-Channel 23 cameraman arrested last month on an armed robbery charge for
supposedly snatching WTVJ-Channel 4 photographer Ricky Morris' camera at
gunpoint.
"Too much evidence tending to show he may not be the person, " says
prosecutor Sandra Miller. "I have witnesses who placed him elsewhere at the
0
approximate time this crime occurred."
A key witness: Channel 23 veteran reporter Esteban Lamela. "He said he
was with him all day long, " says Miller. And, Channel 4 reporter Nara Roza
said she saw Pico and Lamela lunching at La Esquina de Tejas at 12:45 p.m. ,
about the time the holdup occurred.
"Impossible for him to be two places at the same time, " says Miller.
Miller says she does not question that Morris was robbed. The question
is: by whom?
Pico, 24, spent three days in jail. He says the arrest "pretty much
screwed up my reputation." It could have been worse. Conviction could have
meant life in prison.
WSVN-Channel 7 takes a hit in Forbes Media Critic: The Best and Worst
of America's Journalism. In a chapter titled "Armageddon Live at 6!" the
station is criticized for ignoring a top national news story last year on the
federal crime bill -- while playing up lots of blood and guts. "At 'SVN crime
is in, but crime fighting is out; all things violent, lurid or catastrophic
get air time; solutions get no time, " the book says.
Quoted in the WSVN piece is Ian Levinson, a 31-year-old restaurant
worker: "I watch it 'cause it's cool to come home, get a beer, and watch such
self-parody. It's like watching Saturday Night Live's 'Weekend Update. ' " The
station counters that its format draws new viewers never before interested in
the nightly news.
Saying adios to Miami: chef Robin Haas, most recently of Bang on Miami
Beach. He sold his interest in the place and plans to open an Asian restaurant
in San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square with Mark Miller of Coyote Cafe fame.
Haas, 42, will first do a six-month stint at Miller's Red Sage restaurant in
Washington, D.C. , then spend a couple of months in the Far East "doing
research" before opening the San Francisco eatery. Tough job, but someone's
got to do it.
Out and about: Mexican pop singer Paulina Rubio and Ricardo Bofill
Jr. , estranged hubbie of Julio Iglesias' daughter Chabeli. Bofill, son of the
famous Spanish architect, and Iglesias, a Univision TV host, are divorcing.
Rubio and Bofill were all lovey-dovey at Wednesday's bash at the Tahiti
Beach mansion of developer Pedro Garcia. The party honored Albita Rodriguez,
who launched her first stateside CD, No Se Parece A Nada (Unlike Anything
Else) .
TAG: 9502120489
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