Tower Theater is a nationally respected local treasure. Miami should let it continue to flourish | Opinion

Like so many Miamians, Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Tower Theater cast a spell on me from the first time I visited. I was lured by its unique, world-class film selection; the friendly staff who know you by name and love to chat about the films; and its magnetic pull to Little Havana, where so many restaurants and shops have opened in its wake.

Years later, I started working at the Miami Film Festival and Tower Theater. Today, I am interim executive director for both. But when news broke that the city planned to terminate MDC’s operation of the Tower Theater, it hit me first and foremost as a Miamian and a patron. To so many of us — including the thousands who have protested, signed petitions, and called on the city’s mayor and commissioners to change course — the Tower Theater under MDC’s management has become a second home.

Having seen past treasures like the Coconut Grove Playhouse and Olympia Theater go from thriving cultural hubs to mostly empty spaces, we can’t stomach the thought of the same happening to the Tower Theater.

Since its inception in 1926, the theater has always operated as a cinema. It is Miami’s most iconic cinema and is of huge cultural importance to the city’s Cuban population in particular. For many, it was their gateway to American culture. Under MDC’s administration since 2002, it has become one of the most beloved and respected cinemas in the nation — USA Today named it one of the 10 best places to see a movie in America. In that time, it has drawn 1.2 million visitors to Little Havana to see the best in local and international cinema, making it Miami’s highest grossing arthouse by a large margin. Luminaries from Isabelle Huppert to Antonio Banderas have hosted premieres there. And MDC has respected and built on its historical importance to Spanish speakers — half the films we feature are in Spanish or are English-language films with Spanish subtitles.

More important, the Tower Theater under MDC has long been a home base and fountain of support for local filmmakers and artists. MDC’s Tower Theater has, free of charge, opened its doors to the Miami Film Lab, Oolite Arts’ Commissioned Short Film Screenings and countless local premieres. Currently, visitors to the second-floor mezzanine can see an art exhibit by local Cuban-American artist Daniel Marin. It is no coincidence that the petition and protests against the city’s plans have all been led by local filmmakers and artists.

In a recent press conference, the city outlined new plans for the theater, including a visitor center for tourists, occasional plays and sporadic screenings of Cuban-themed documentaries. These are all great ideas — and they don’t need to displace Miami’s most historic cinema or MDC’s universally acclaimed administration of it.

MDC has publicly agreed to work with the city on a daytime visitor center; and during the past 20 years, our programming of Cuban films has been unmatched. While live theater is superb, the neighborhood already has several venues. But for almost 100 years, it has only had one cinema: the Tower Theater.

The most troubling thing is that no segment of the community has called for this change, and there has not been a bad word spoken about MDC’s impeccable administration of the theater for two decades. Why fix something that isn’t broken? Since MDC has shown its willingness to incorporate the city’s ideas, the mayor and commissioners should rescind the termination and allow this beloved institution to continue to flourish. It can incorporate new uses while continuing to operate as a world-class year-round cinema.

It’s a truism that voters have short memories, but as the community’s passionate outcry about this decision has shown, when something people love is at stake, their memories grow considerably longer. It would behoove local leaders to be remembered as saving cultural institutions, not destroying them.

Nicolas Calzada is interim executive director of the Miami Film Festival & Tower Theater.