Little Havana’s Tower Theater under city’s management following MDC lease termination
The Tower Theater has been a Little Havana mainstay for nearly a century. The historic theater screens art-house films and has a special place in the hearts of some Cuban Miamians, who remember learning about American culture at movie screenings there.
For over 20 years, Miami Dade College operated the theater. But during its Thursday meeting, the Miami City Commission voted for commission District Three, where the theater is located, to take over the operations of the theater.
District Three Commissioner Joe Carollo expressed his hope that under new management, the theater would expand its programming and improve its reach.
The resolution handed over the operations of the Calle Ocho theater to District Three and approved the district to use the nearly $800,000 in funding the city budgeted for the theater. The resolution stated the city hopes to improve the theater by adding a theater stage, visual arts exhibits and a desk promoting tourism in Little Havana and throughout Miami.
This will be a “pilot program,” City Manager Art Noriega said during the meeting. The commission will revisit the matter in a year and evaluate whether District Three should continue to operate the theater.
Not every commissioner at the meeting was on board with District Three taking over the operations of the theater. Commissioner Manolo Reyes spoke out against the resolution. The resolution is “against my principles,” he said before the commission voted. He was joined in voting against the resolution by Commissioner Sabina Covo.
“Neither one of us should have complete control over a city asset,” Reyes said, addressing Carollo during the meeting. “That’s the job of the city manager, and if the city manager has to appoint me to run any of the assets in the city ... I think that we have to get a new manager.”
Miami Dade College operated the theater from 2002 until the beginning of this year, when the city took over. Last September, Miami announced it would not renew its lease with MDC. The city planned to take over at the end of MDC’s lease in January.
Carollo claimed “very few people” were going to movies at the Tower Theater under MDC’s management. He added that the seats in the theater, which he said are about 20 years old, “look like new because no one was using them.”
“It was not serving the vision that I think the city had when it gave it to Miami Dade [College],” Carollo said.
The city’s decision to terminate MDC’s lease sparked outrage among some local filmmakers, Little Havana residents and others who approved of the college’s management of the theater. Protesters gathered last fall at the theater to protest the city’s takeover, and a petition posted on change.org calling for MDC to continue to operate the theater had over 8,500 signatures.
At one point, Carollo pushed to hand the theater over to Bay of Pigs veterans, in part to establish a museum. The Miami New Times reported that the veterans group did not want to take over the theater.
Under District Three’s management, Carollo said the theater will introduce new programming, including live theater shows. The theater will continue to screen movies, Carollo said. He added that although the city will have to charge for admission, he hopes the theater can provide an affordable way for residents to experience “top-notch entertainment.”
“We want to get this off the ground, running already,” Carollo said. “Hopefully the city administration can see what we’re doing ... and if they could pick up and run with it, I’d be the happiest guy around.”
