Miami Dade College no longer to run Little Havana’s Tower Theater, City of Miami says

For 20 years, Miami Dade College has operated the iconic Tower Theater in Little Havana, featuring art-house cinema and supporting local filmmakers at the historic venue. Now Miami’s theater and arts community is rallying behind MDC after learning that the college won’t be running the theater in the new year. The City of Miami will be.

The city’s Department of Real Estate and Asset Management notified MDC on Sept. 19 that it will terminate its contract with the college on Jan. 2, 2023, according to a written notice from Jacqueline Lorenzo, the department’s interim director.

The city did not explain the reason for the termination in the letter to MDC nor in its statement to the Herald. The city’s decision was first reported by Miami New Times.

“We thank you for your services in managing the Property for the last few years,” Lorenzo wrote in the notice.

Lorenzo added that the city will coordinate with MDC to operate events and programming that were already scheduled for after the contract ends. A city spokesperson told the Herald that the city will “take control over managing and operating the Tower [Theater] into the foreseeable future.”

An MDC spokesperson told the Herald that the college had a five-year lease on the property since 2016 with an option to renew for five more years.

The college expected the renewal process to go smoothly, but 20 months of communications fell apart. The spokesperson said that the city was slow to respond to the college’s attempts at communication, even after the college provided documents that the city requested. Sometimes MDC went months without hearing back, the spokesperson said.

“We would like to get a new lease, but at this point, it’s really not in our hands,” the spokesperson said.

Though it is unclear why the city terminated the contract, city officials have been moving to remove MDC from the theater’s helm. Commissioner Joe Carollo recently sponsored a measure to oust MDC and replace it with the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association, Brigade 2506, to “better operate” the property. The veterans group wasn’t interested in the theater, and the city commission later withdrew that resolution, according to Miami New Times.

The Tower Theater, located at 1508 SW Eighth St., is considered to be a “cultural landmark.” The venue is deeply significant for both Miami’s film community and Cuban-American population.

When it first opened in 1926, it was the “finest state-of-the-art theater in the South,” according to the theater’s website. In the early ‘60s, the Tower Theater’s films entertained Cuban refugees and introduced them to American culture. The theater began showing English-language films with Spanish subtitles and later included Spanish-language films as well.

The theater closed in 1984, but was revitalized in 2002 when the City of Miami authorized MDC to reopen the venue. The theater later became home to the Miami Film Festival and other programming that supports independent and Latin American films.

The theater will host the GEMS Film Festival on Nov. 3, though MDC is now looking for alternative venues to host the 40th Miami Film Festival.

“Regardless of if the city decides to do something else with their building, that’s not going to change our core mission of providing cultural programming and access to everyone in our community,” the spokesperson said.

Given the theater’s historical and cultural importance, local filmmaker Chris Molina was shocked to see the city cut ties with the college.

The theater holds personal significance for Molina, he said. Not only has he worked with Miami Film Festival for years, but the venue was also where he premiered his short films. After learning about the city’s plans Tuesday, Molina made a petition on change.org to send a message to local government officials. He said he is worried about what may happen to MDC’s diverse and inclusive programming at the theater if the venue falls into the hands of what he calls a corrupt city government.

“To give them the power to control the media that we’re consuming is pretty alarming,” he said.

Molina checked the petition first thing Wednesday morning and has been watching the number of signatures grow closer to its goal of 2,500. Concerned residents and filmmakers took to the petition’s comment section to stress the need to preserve the Tower Theater as a cultural institution.

One person commented, “I grew up in Little Havana and this is one of the few affordable and historic gems we have left.” Another commented, ”I am a film student and one of the goals I had was to have my film played at the theater.”

For now, Molina is holding out hope for MDC to keep the Tower Theater.

“This is an opportunity to expand and become such a bigger, more ingrained part of the community so that something like this doesn’t happen again,” he said. “So that it becomes such a big part of the community that it never gets the chance of being threatened.”

This story was produced with financial support from The Pérez Family Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.