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.
Mapping the address it comes up as an LA Fitness now, like several other cinemas in suburban Miami-Dade County that became gyms/fitness centers: Valentino, Kendall Town and Country, Kendall 9 (at one time I believe), IMAX Theatre at Sunset Place…
Maybe this bothers me because I don’t relate to exercise culture. : )
I had visited the Miller Square once in the late 90’s but don’t remember what movie I saw. It was second run and I think I left early because I was not enjoying it and the place felt run down. It closed a year or so later.
I walked by on 4/21/19 for the first time in 20 years and found the LA Fitness in the back of the shopping center down a walkway of storefronts that seemed originally placed to lead up to the cinema and make it feel like the centerpiece of the strip mall.
In my vague recollections I thought the cinema was located closer to a road, like maybe where El Dorado Furniture (13714) is now, but I’m probably misremembering.
Comparing the historic photos, including those linked to in previous comments, to Google Street View and Satellite images, it seems only the Texaco gas station building remains, but has been converted into a Starbucks. The tall Texaco sign and poles holding it up are gone. The long rectangular piece of vacant land behind the Starbucks/former gas station that had been adjacent to the drive-in is mostly still vacant.
I recently came across a broadcast of a sermon by local Pastor Steve Alessi. He says when he was young his church required that he avoid pop culture including movies, but describes having watched movies from outside the fence at the Tropicaire because he had figured not being on the inside is like not attending in compliance with his church’s rules. : ) He also mentions the Coral Way Drive-in.
Click here for a link to a video of his presentation set to begin at about the time the subject comes up.
I enjoy coincidences, which I experience frequently. I had never heard anyone verbally mention the Coral Way Drive-in before, then on 5/19 a few days after I posted the comment above about visiting the Wawa, I came across a broadcast of a sermon by local Pastor Steve Alessi. He says when he was young his church required that he avoid pop culture including movies, then mentions that his family eventually chose to ease into the movie-going experience by seeing “101 Dalmatians” at a drive-in on Coral Way.
He then describes having watched movies from outside the fence at the Tropicaire Drive-in because he had figured not being on the inside is like not attending in compliance with his church’s rules. : )
Click here for a link to a video of his presentation set to begin at about the time the subject comes up.
The mayor’s veto was upheld, as reported in this local channel 10 news video, which includes quick historic photos, a description of the situation, and comments from players in the city’s dispute with Miami-Dade County that is still ongoing and may be settled in court.
Miami Mayor Suarez has vetoed a plan that would have demolished the auditorium and kept the historic façade.
In hopes that the entire building can be preserved and restored, the mayor and supporters of the veto, Save Our Playhouse, are asking people to attend the next City Commission meeting this Thursday May 23rd at 9am to urge that the veto be upheld and not overturned.
Detailed Miami Herald article from May 18th, 2019 about the current state of the situation and the politics involved:
A Braman Honda car dealership (7000 Coral Way) now occupies most of the site with the Futura Gables Condominiums (7040 Coral Way, even though it looks like it‘s at the corner of SW 70th Court and SW 26th Street) in the lower left quadrant behind it.
Coral Way is at the top which is also called SW 24th Street.
The new Wawa and the El Palacio de los Jugos restaurant are on the north side of Coral Way across from the Braman Honda/former drive-in location.
On the right the tracks have been removed from the railroad right-of-way which is intended to become part of the new Ludlam Trail bicycle and walker/jogger path.
The vertical rectangular building in the lower right corner of the photo is still there in today’s satellite image.
The line of trees arranged in a backwards “L” in the lower right hand corner of the property may be leftovers from when it was the drive-in.
I believe the former location of the Coral Way Drive-in holds a Braman Honda car dealership and the Futura Gables Condominiums behind it.
Compare the overhead photo in the photos section with the Google satellite image for the car dealership (7000 Coral Way): The railroad right-of-way is on the right (today with the tracks removed), Coral Way is at the top, and the vertical rectangular building in the lower right corner is still there just outside the drive-in/dealership property line with trees above it that may date back to the drive-in. The condominium and its parking lot take up the lower left quadrant of the drive-in.
So the place is still about parked cars, just not movies. :)
While making plans to visit the new Wawa next to the El Palacio de los Jugos restaurant and across Coral Way from the car dealership I checked Cinema Treasures for any listings in the area, and found one for this drive-in right in the vicinity! When I saw the photo of the overhead shot I knew I could use the railroad right-of-way to match to the current satellite image, then noticed the other details.
While at the Wawa on 5/11/2019 during opening week crowds the only spot I found outside to rest and eat my sandwich had me facing a full view of the dealership/former drive-in property, which was appropriate for me. I tried to imagine what movie-goers may have experienced there and wondered if anyone else visiting the Wawa will ever do the same.
I then crossed Coral Way and walked the sidewalks around the edges of the dealership and condo parking lot. I did not recognize any traces of its drive-in days, other than maybe the tall trees still arranged in a right angle in the lower right corner of the property, that looked old enough to be a remnant.
New York Times article from April 15th, 2019 about a young celluloid projectionist who was trained and is working at the Jacob Burns Film Center, digital vs. film, and the current state of the occupation:
Click here for a local CBS News interview with a preservationist from Save Our Playhouse and a lawyer representing people against the building’s demolition regarding the current state of the Playhouse after plans to redevelop the site were voted down.
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. : )
Glad to hear it has reopened, as verified by a Google search for articles about The Screen in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper.
The Center for Contemporary Arts website says they have also been running the CCA Cinematheque at 1050 Old Pecos Trail since 1983, which currently does not have a listing on Cinema Treasures.
Wow, Santa Fe has at least 3 art cinemas, including the Jean Cocteau.
Mapping the address it comes up as an LA Fitness now, like several other cinemas in suburban Miami-Dade County that became gyms/fitness centers: Valentino, Kendall Town and Country, Kendall 9 (at one time I believe), IMAX Theatre at Sunset Place…
Maybe this bothers me because I don’t relate to exercise culture. : )
I had visited the Miller Square once in the late 90’s but don’t remember what movie I saw. It was second run and I think I left early because I was not enjoying it and the place felt run down. It closed a year or so later.
I walked by on 4/21/19 for the first time in 20 years and found the LA Fitness in the back of the shopping center down a walkway of storefronts that seemed originally placed to lead up to the cinema and make it feel like the centerpiece of the strip mall.
In my vague recollections I thought the cinema was located closer to a road, like maybe where El Dorado Furniture (13714) is now, but I’m probably misremembering.
Comparing the historic photos, including those linked to in previous comments, to Google Street View and Satellite images, it seems only the Texaco gas station building remains, but has been converted into a Starbucks. The tall Texaco sign and poles holding it up are gone. The long rectangular piece of vacant land behind the Starbucks/former gas station that had been adjacent to the drive-in is mostly still vacant.
I recently came across a broadcast of a sermon by local Pastor Steve Alessi. He says when he was young his church required that he avoid pop culture including movies, but describes having watched movies from outside the fence at the Tropicaire because he had figured not being on the inside is like not attending in compliance with his church’s rules. : ) He also mentions the Coral Way Drive-in.
Click here for a link to a video of his presentation set to begin at about the time the subject comes up.
I enjoy coincidences, which I experience frequently. I had never heard anyone verbally mention the Coral Way Drive-in before, then on 5/19 a few days after I posted the comment above about visiting the Wawa, I came across a broadcast of a sermon by local Pastor Steve Alessi. He says when he was young his church required that he avoid pop culture including movies, then mentions that his family eventually chose to ease into the movie-going experience by seeing “101 Dalmatians” at a drive-in on Coral Way.
He then describes having watched movies from outside the fence at the Tropicaire Drive-in because he had figured not being on the inside is like not attending in compliance with his church’s rules. : )
Click here for a link to a video of his presentation set to begin at about the time the subject comes up.
The mayor’s veto was upheld, as reported in this local channel 10 news video, which includes quick historic photos, a description of the situation, and comments from players in the city’s dispute with Miami-Dade County that is still ongoing and may be settled in court.
Miami Mayor Suarez has vetoed a plan that would have demolished the auditorium and kept the historic façade.
In hopes that the entire building can be preserved and restored, the mayor and supporters of the veto, Save Our Playhouse, are asking people to attend the next City Commission meeting this Thursday May 23rd at 9am to urge that the veto be upheld and not overturned.
Detailed Miami Herald article from May 18th, 2019 about the current state of the situation and the politics involved:
“Miami Mayor Vetoes Controversial Grove Playhouse Revival Plan. Now What?”
Mayor Suarez announces his veto while standing before the Playhouse in this video.
CBS News report on veto announcement.
Video of full announcement. (Playhouse is off-screen to his left.)
A Braman Honda car dealership (7000 Coral Way) now occupies most of the site with the Futura Gables Condominiums (7040 Coral Way, even though it looks like it‘s at the corner of SW 70th Court and SW 26th Street) in the lower left quadrant behind it.
Coral Way is at the top which is also called SW 24th Street.
The new Wawa and the El Palacio de los Jugos restaurant are on the north side of Coral Way across from the Braman Honda/former drive-in location.
On the right the tracks have been removed from the railroad right-of-way which is intended to become part of the new Ludlam Trail bicycle and walker/jogger path.
The vertical rectangular building in the lower right corner of the photo is still there in today’s satellite image.
The line of trees arranged in a backwards “L” in the lower right hand corner of the property may be leftovers from when it was the drive-in.
I believe the former location of the Coral Way Drive-in holds a Braman Honda car dealership and the Futura Gables Condominiums behind it.
Compare the overhead photo in the photos section with the Google satellite image for the car dealership (7000 Coral Way): The railroad right-of-way is on the right (today with the tracks removed), Coral Way is at the top, and the vertical rectangular building in the lower right corner is still there just outside the drive-in/dealership property line with trees above it that may date back to the drive-in. The condominium and its parking lot take up the lower left quadrant of the drive-in.
So the place is still about parked cars, just not movies. :)
While making plans to visit the new Wawa next to the El Palacio de los Jugos restaurant and across Coral Way from the car dealership I checked Cinema Treasures for any listings in the area, and found one for this drive-in right in the vicinity! When I saw the photo of the overhead shot I knew I could use the railroad right-of-way to match to the current satellite image, then noticed the other details.
While at the Wawa on 5/11/2019 during opening week crowds the only spot I found outside to rest and eat my sandwich had me facing a full view of the dealership/former drive-in property, which was appropriate for me. I tried to imagine what movie-goers may have experienced there and wondered if anyone else visiting the Wawa will ever do the same.
I then crossed Coral Way and walked the sidewalks around the edges of the dealership and condo parking lot. I did not recognize any traces of its drive-in days, other than maybe the tall trees still arranged in a right angle in the lower right corner of the property, that looked old enough to be a remnant.
New York Times article from April 15th, 2019 about a young celluloid projectionist who was trained and is working at the Jacob Burns Film Center, digital vs. film, and the current state of the occupation:
“How a Movie Projectionist Keeps the Dying Art of Celluloid Alive”
Click here for a local CBS News interview with a preservationist from Save Our Playhouse and a lawyer representing people against the building’s demolition regarding the current state of the Playhouse after plans to redevelop the site were voted down.