1614-22 Various Miami Beach 11
1 ,Ze). 1- (,q)r-0-1(,,,VG,.
,
'. il : H . , p
i. it
1 New Yorker Hotel (demolished), 1611 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach. ARCHITECT: Henry
! , Hohauser, 1940.This was the greatest loss the Art Deco District ever suffered.Owner Abe
Resnick and his partners publicly promised to preserve the hotel, but they demolished it
April 4, 1981. It has been a weed-strewn empty lot ever since. The Miami Design
i Preservation League subsequently adopted the hotel's facade in its corporate logo.A
I decade later,after the Distract hod achieved worldwide fame, Resnick's son James helped
:i the new owner get o demolition permit for the adjoining Sands Hotel, and it too was
'I ; demolished,leaving on even greater void.(Photograph courtesy the Capitmon Archives)
i111 1
AF Pork Central Hotel, 640 Ocean Drive,Miami Beach.ARcrraEcr:Henry Hohauser, 1937.
[, ' Stro design elements combine to make this the centerpiece of Ocean Drive. The three
i IAoc gonal windows over the entrance, the recessed vertical spandrels, and the hotel's
��I��� w.,I. me stylized in neon serve to introduce the visitor to the grandest lobby in the Art Deco
1�+�+ -'' District The facade,awash in brilliant white and periwinkle blue as designed by the late
71 ® ' ' E ' colorist and designer Leonard Horowitz, has a vibrancy visible from a mile out in the
Atlantic Ocean. Flamboyant owner Tony Goldman,after refurbishing the hotel and open-
ing a restaurant in its lobby, tumed his attention to tireless promotion of his beloved
ltd -Tilly.. I I. . -.q t, ig
I Ocean Drive,and becoming its honorary mayor.
It __
i
li
1 { :'.:•;•:•;',:..2.i, -.;-, ,'111;11111
j � III
lll�ll I,,1. :; IL i - �.__...1._._,. I..
I ' I h'I, • IP • _.,..� `
glllii�f E , A • 1 fI
C I I _iLi
I }f t �. _!. j . pl i
l • I {�l
iil I ,
I,
ill
,:;,f1,41.111.4 If
r r. -- __ 11
I I. I•
o I ,. }t
.
•
I I ,
i i MN' ,
$ I) /_\ , /! 2 _1i _-. . .( P %�� _
' I,
il
1
�I
rI
,,
1
`.dres Fabregas was Barbara's top adviser.When he retired, nonexistent. It was necessary and desirable to salvage and
".ralyn Robinson Kana took over as chair. Much of the reuse the hotels' original assets. New parts usually meant a
administration was done by attorney Denis Russ, who even- special fabrication. The Victor Hotel lobby was a supreme
tually helped Barbara establish the Miami Beach Develop- example of the Miami Beach Art Deco lobby. ft was larger
ment Corporation (MBDC), which he now heads. At this than most and more glamorous. "Miami Vice" came to film
;me, the board of the MDPL had co-chairs: the late Carl its TV-goes-MTV series in September 1984, and the Emmy- i
Weinhardt,Jr., director of the Vizcaya Museum, and Mitchell award-winning set designers quickly discovered that the
Wolfson,Jr.,a millionaire friend of Barbara's who was amass- lobby spaces of the shuttered Victor Hotel were an ideal
ing such a large collection of important early-twentieth- location for everything from cafés to department-store sales
century"decorative and propaganda arts"that he was obliged floors. The beautiful lights, pastel colors, and matching ter-
to establish museums in Miami Beach and Genoa, Italy, just razzo floors gave a look to the scenes that was dynamite for
to keep track of it. He has since turned it over to The the unblinking TV camera lens. A prime feature in that front
Wolfsonian Foundation,directed by Weinhardt's brilliant for- lobby was the large Earl LaPan mural. It was overhead on the
mer assistant from Indianapolis,Peggy Loar. mezzanine level,at the end of the long two-story lobby.The
Early Art Deco District rehabilitation efforts were favorite LaPan subjects, flamingoes and watery Everglades
spurred on by programs nurtured by the tremendously suc- grasslands,were here in abundance.
cessful Metro-Dade County Department of Community After Andrew Capitman's venture ran out of money,he
and Economic Development, led by Ernest Martin, Ph.D. was forced to sell out at a loss. He, like his mother, was
Eventually, Dr. Martin was persuaded to chair the MDPL ahead of his time, and not trusted by the establishment. He
- board of directors from 1985 to 1988. But before that, he retreated to New York and then to London to do business
instituted a vital program to enhance the new Historic elsewhere. It was left to others to pick up the challenge and
District. The way it worked was simple: The government become Art Deco developers. Among the earlier people to
would pay for part of the cost if an owner or commercial attempt this were Gerry Sanchez, the first true restoration
business leaseholder would simply repaint the facade of their expert, and Donald Meginley,the first true Art Deco hote-
building. The program targeted Washington Avenue. Under tier. They are gone now, but part-time New Yorker Tony
the direction of Bernstein (now associate director of the Goldman has emerged to lead his fellow developers with
MBDC),Washington Avenue began to look great.The jour- élan and pizzazz. Goldman has invested in many Art Deco
ney from slum to paradise for the District was to take only District properties but is best known for running the Park
ten years, and it essentially started with nothing more than Central Hotel,640 Ocean Drive,designed by Henry Hohauser
fresh paint and a big dream. in 1937. By frequently entertaining writers from Japan,
In 1982, Art Deco restoration materials were nearly Sweden, Germany, France,and Italy, Goldman has ensured a
LL' Tl o . G
CI_ t
F �Q I 11 I@
�, X11
LI. . 0��i� 1%it L, C 11
� � • 1 Elgar' 111111_111.111,111% i �� i
x III:
_� I a
1 11 l' r'LJL-1 III a ... - iL
1 i
11
x : litil --la I
fl. 1 1 [
11. I l l 1 7 l'
a I II
$•• -:-
,- rILi
. LI , _ .
s.
A f )) jyy+Y�' \
sty.- Q,� J --1J ( ' ! .I
I111 •
7
•
' steady flow of favorable stories about Miami Beach, just as at Ocean Drive is now Barbara Capitman Way,and Eleventh '
Barbara Capitman had done a decade earlier. It was she who Street is now Leonard Horowitz Place. The names are very
first understood that the key to success in promoting the Art fitting, but they scarcely give these two the full tribute they
Deco District was articles in every newspaper and magazine. deserve.We have recently elected a new group of city corn-
But it was the camera's eye, finally,that ensured the fame of missioners to run the city, and we hope that, led by Neisen
her beloved District. Kasdin, an attorney who previously led the Miami Beach
Goldman and his fellow developers have now organized Development Corporation as chairman, the city administra-
an Ocean Drive Association that unambiguously allies itself tion will move ever closer to the idea of commercial devel- '
with the preservation community. Goldman was a patron of opment through the enhancement of our historic properties.
designer Leonard Horowitz,and in Leonard's last days, as he Since Barbara's death on March 29, 1990, the MDPL
lay dying of AIDS,Tony made sure that Leonard had a corn- has come a long way. Nancy Liebman ran the organization
fortable apartment and free utilities. Tony never talks about with the same iron hand as did Barbara and got many city
that. He also provides support to district artists. He leads the department heads to listen seriously when construction or
effort to keep the Art Deco District in the international renovation was not going according to code or to the
spotlight, giving interviews and appearing on television in Historic Preservation Board's wishes. The board of the
1 many countries. He works to improve the quality of the MDPL continues to enjoy the service of some longtime •
Historic District,and he knows how to do it. But he has a lot members who worked for years with Barbara—people such
of help. There are several other leading Art Deco develop- as Janet Aptaker, Alan Baseman, Matti Bower, Aristides '
ers who have allied themselves squarely on the side of his- Millas, Thom Grafton, Betty Gutierrez, Coman Leonard,and
toric preservation, including Mel and Marilyn Schlesser, Mark Keith Root.Attorneys I.Stanley Levine and Joseph Z. Fleming
Y Soyka, Clark Reynolds, Saul Gross, and José Fernandez. The have also assisted the MDPL board since Barbara's early '.
city administration now listens carefully to any discussion days.
about improving the Art Deco District. A strict ban on
demolition throughout the National Register District passed `
the Miami Beach City Commission unanimously in October Saint Charles Hotel (Avalon Hotel), 700 Ocean Drive,
1992. The message about not tearing down the building is Miami Beach. ARCHITECT:Albert Anis, 1941. A splendid
corner cower illustrates how the architect,Anis,eschewed
now being heard loud and clear throughout the city. the rounded corners of the 1930s and moved toward
In the past few years,the MDPL has convinced the City the bold square geometry of the 1940s.Now called the
of Miami Beach to name streets in the Art Deco District for Avalon,it's one of Ocean Drive's many highlights.
both Barbara Capitman and Leonard Horowitz.Tenth Street
138