I was a little kid when this thing passed through Dade County. I was right there on SW 184th street, dead in the tracks of the eye wall. Our house got straight f**ked up. Its crazy to think its been 18 years. #reflection

Lyric Theater – 819 NW 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33142

OPENING: Overtown is home to the legendary Lyric Theater. Opened in 1913, the Lyric Theater quickly became a major entertainment center for blacks in Miami. The 400-seat theater was built, owned and operated by Geder Walker, a black man from Georgia. In 1915 the Miami Metropolic newspaper described the Lyric Theater as, “possibly the most beautiful and costly playhouse owned by Colored people in all the Southland.” The Lyric Theater served as a symbol of black economic influence, as well as a social gathering place free of discrimination. It was a source of pride and culture within Overtown.

HISTORY: The theater anchored the district known as “Little Broadway,” an area alive with hotels, restaurants and nightclubs frequented by both black and white tourists and residents. Clyde Killens, a local resident and entertainment promoter, was primarily responsible for bringing black entertainers—who could perform in the clubs on Miami Beach but not stay in the hotels—to Overtown, the Lyric Theater and “Little Broadway.” Little Broadway’s roster of stars was spectacular, featuring such performers as Count Basie, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, the Ink Spots, B.B. King, Patti LaBelle, Ella Fitzgerald, Redd Foxx and Mary Wells.

Patterns of entertainment changed at the same time as Overtown’s population and businesses began to decline in the 1960s. The Lyric Theater closed and has remained shuttered for four decades when it was decided it was to reopened and renovated in 2000.

HISTORIC RECOGNITION & RENOVATION: On January 4, 1989, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. And in 2000, the theater began a full renovation and expansion including: a new stage and support area. New lobbies, new artist’s dressing rooms. New mechanical and electrical systems. In charge of the project was MEP sub-consultants to R.J. Heisenbottle Architects, PA. The budget for the project was $5 Million.

TODAY: The theater still stands today, but recently was set to go even further renovation and expansion. However, it has run into a bit of trouble according to the Miami New Times. Click here to read their story.

BONUS FACT: Trick Daddy shot the video “Amerika” in front of the theater with Miami director Gil Green. Click here to watch the video.

This kinda caught me off-guard. Didn’t know the Fillmore was in danger of being torn down. read below as the Miami Herald dives in towards efforts to save the historic building.

Fillmore supporters use Facebook to protest possible theater demolition
By DAVID SMILEY
dsmiley@MiamiHerald.com

Miami Beach leaders won’t have to wait until next month’s community workshop to receive feedback on an option to tear down The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater.

More than 1,800 have joined the “Save the Fillmore at Jackie Gleason Theater” Facebook page since news broke that consultants mapping a vision for a convention center expansion have proposed doing away with the live music venue. The site, an alternative to a northern location, isn’t set in stone.

But leaders of a committee formed to oversee a plan for a convention center revamp have said the southern site is preferable, though it would mean demolishing a venue that Live Nation took over just three years ago.

Hundreds have already protested the option on Facebook.

James Echols wrote that “while I understand with agree with the need for bigger and better convention services, this is definitely not the location to do it.”

And this from Adrian Cossio: “Please, it’s the only place to see a show in my community . . . don’t take it away.”

A community workshop is planned for 6 p.m. May 13 in room C220 of the convention center, 1901 Convention Center Dr.

Source: Miami Herald

I’ve done so many photoshoots on the steps of this courthouse and I’ve gone to this place so many times to settle traffic tickets and other “matters”…lol. These photos are crazy. Circa 1928 from the Florida State Archives. And I had such a great response to the Downtown Miami in 1940′s post, I had to do another.

Flagler street in Downtown Miami, sailors celebrate the “end” of World War II
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Corner of NE 2nd Avenue at 10th Street
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Aerial view of Downtown Miami and Miami River (1947)
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Simulated WWII bomb raid over the skies of Downtown Miami (1946)
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Flagler Street looking west
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All photos courtesy of MiamiMemories.com

CBS 4 (Miami) - Miami Marine Stadium used to be the focal point for iconic cultural and political events. After Hurricane Andrew’s winds shut down the stadium due to roof damage, it remained empty; to this day, the stadium continues to deteriorate, covered in graffiti of all shapes, colors and sizes.

Sitting empty on Key Biscayne, the stadium is now being ranked with famous landmarks as Machu Picchu and the Old City of Jerusalem – placed on the World Monuments Fund’s watch list for 2010 of monuments threatened by neglect or overdevelopment for 2010.

Original illustrated poster from back in 1983 courtesy of Frank151. Here’s the description they wrote to accompany the poster…

SCARFACE (1983)
Need we say more? You knew the producers of Cocaine Cowboys were not gonna leave this one out! Shot mostly in Los Angeles, thanks to meddling Miami City Commissioners who did not approve of the portrayal of Cuban immigrants in Oliver Stone’s screenplay, this epic masterpiece spectacularly sums up the deadly, tumultuous early 1980s in South Florida. More fact than fiction, Stone and director Brian DePalma managed to faithfully adapt Howard Hawks’ 1932 gangster classic of the same name and create the ideal time capsule for Miami’s “Paradise Lost” years. – Frank151

Photo Credit: MSGCartel.Com

Wow, sad to see this place go. This is the club where I met my ex-wife Maria Menounos. Inside the club was amazing for photoshoots. And the school bus? Good Lord. They could’ve atleast pulled it out before demolishing the place. Either way, rest in peace Pawn Shop. Click below for a photographic “before and after” legacy of the school bus via MSG’s Official Website.

Photo Courtesy of ImageMD

Rest in peace to the Miami Arena. The arena is set for demolishing tomorrow morning Sunday September 21, 2008. The “pink elephant” as its been often called used to be home to the Miami Heat and the Florida Panthers, but we all know where those teams up in left to. First the Orange Bowl, and now this.  Here’s a little back story to the history of the arena…

Completed in 1988 at a cost of $52.5 million, its opening took business away from the Hollywood Sportatorium and eventually led to its demise. The arena was the home of the Miami Heat from 1988-2000, the Florida Panthers from 1993-1999, the University of Miami basketball teams from 1988-2003, the Miami Hooters of the Arena Football League from 1993-1995, the Miami Matadors of the ECHL in 1998 and the Miami Morays indoor football team since 2005. It also hosted the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, the 1991 Royal Rumble the 1994 NCAA Men’s Basketball East Regional Final and the NHL’s 1996 Stanley Cup Finals. The 2001 Christmas Eve episode of Monday Night Raw featuring The Rock was also held here.

On January 2, 2000, the Heat moved to the American Airlines Arena located three blocks east of Miami Arena on the shore of Biscayne Bay. The Panthers also left Miami Arena to play at what is now the BankAtlantic Center located in Sunrise, Florida right near Florida’s largest outlet mall, Sawgrass Mills.

Most of the concerts that were held at Miami Arena are now held at newer venues, including the BankAtlantic Center, AmericanAirlines Arena or the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
Since then, the arena has remained mostly inactive. The arena was sold in a public auction in 2004 to Glenn Straub, an investor from Palm Beach County, Florida, for $24 million less than the $52 million the city of Miami paid for its original construction. Miami Arena is sometimes called the “Pink Elephant”, because it is a White Elephant with pink colored walls.

On August 3, 2008, Straub announced in a television interview that the interior of the arena had been cleared out and that the building would be demolished by the end of the month. Miami officials have pitched an idea to the Florida Marlins that would move the site of their proposed $525 million New Marlins Stadium from the site of the Orange Bowl to the Miami Arena site. The Marlins are against this proposal as it would delay stadium construction and could cause the new stadium to not open in time for the 2011 season. Straub has proposed a land swap that would result in him owning the Orange Bowl site in Little Havana, which he has ideas for its redevelopment.

Downtown Miami around 1954. Courtesy of George W. Young and MiamiMemories.Com.

Before and after. Top picture taken in 1912 of Miami High’s graduating class. Bottom picture taken a few days ago.

Photo is courtesy of www.miamimemories.com

“Cashius Clay was born in Louisville; Muhammad Ali was born in Miami”

This documentary is phenomenal. They had a screening last November on the beach and on the local PBS station, which a lot of people didn’t hear about. But never fear, you can pre-order your DVD by clicking here. (Rhyme Scheme, holla) – Or wait for the national premier in Fall of 2008. Watch the trailer by clicking below

Good Lord. Look what I found. A picture of a Zayre that existed in The Falls area back in the day. My family used to take me to the one by the Cutler Ridge mall when I was a kid in the 80′s. I’m Dominican so you know that we always be chopping up the English language. Along with many other latino counterparts, my family used to pronounce Zayre as “Sigh-Re”. Shit, I still call it that till this day. Anyways, this is a straight mindfuck. Nostalgia foe’ that ass. And if you want a little more, go to YouTube and search “Zayre”…I’m sure you’ll find something…

Please Note: All credits, copyrights and claims to this photo is by way of Don Boyd. You can check out his Pbase page, where you can find tons of nostalic Miami photos:

http://www.MiamiMemories.com