The Miami City Commission voted last week to hand control of the historic Tower Theater back to Miami Dade College, reversing a controversial 2022 decision that placed the theater under the direct control of Miami City Commissioner Joe Carollo.
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published last week by WLRN Public Media. The Spotlight is re-publishing this story under a partnership agreement with WLRN.
In her first commission meeting as mayor of Miami, Eileen Higgins has moved to reshape the arts and culture scene in Little Havana and beyond by returning control of the historic Tower Theater on Calle Ocho to Miami Dade College.
The Miami City Commission voted unanimously on Thursday – at the mayor’s request – to negotiate a new management agreement with the college for theater programming, an effort that aims to revive a flagging venue the city itself has managed since 2023.
Miami Commissioner Rolando Escalona, who replaced Joe Carollo as the city’s District 3 commissioner in Little Havana last month, joined Higgins in sponsoring the agenda item.
The quick reversal of the controversial city takeover of the space marks a rapid change of direction for the city’s cultural scene under new city leadership.
“We’re excited that this might mean a new direction,” filmmaker Robert Colom told WLRN. “I’m thrilled that we have leadership that shares similar cultural values as a group of artists that I’m in touch with.”
The arts scene in South Florida has been battered by funding cuts at the state and federal levels over the last few years. Last year, Miami-Dade County came close to slashing arts funding during a heated budget process, before it was restored on a temporary basis.
But for the local film scene, losing the Tower Theater was a particularly heavy loss. The theater — which turns 100 this year — was the longtime home of the Miami Film Festival and other film festivals until the city booted the college from the premises in 2022.
Partly in response to losing the Tower Theater and other venues closing down, Colom launched a project called CineMovil, a mobile cinema that stops in different neighborhoods in order to try to fill the cultural gap left by the theater’s closure.
“It’s gonna mean a really significant shift in a place for cinephiles and filmmakers to go and congregate and have a place to gather again,” said Colom.
The long-term lease for the iconic Little Havana cinema should be valid for a minimum of 20 years, the commission decided Thursday. The final agreement still needs to be negotiated by the city manager before it goes into effect.
For its part, a representative of Miami Dade College told city commissioners that the college looks forward to gaining control of the property once again.
“Miami Dade College looks forward to working in collaboration with the city of Miami, community leaders, local organizations, artists and residents to ensure that the theater remains an active, inclusive and welcoming cultural space,” said María Carla Chicuén, the executive director of Cultural Affairs at the college.
“For more than 20 years Miami Dade College operated the Tower Theater as a vibrant educational and cultural space serving Little Havana, Calle Ocho, and the greater Miami community,” said Chicuén.
“During that time the College invested significant resources in the preservation, in the maintenance and activation of the theater, welcoming more than 1.2 million visitors and generating meaningful cultural and economic impact for the immediate surrounding neighborhood.”
For years the theater was one of the few places where patrons could reliably watch Spanish-language films in the city.
The city’s decision — led by Carollo — not to renew the college’s lease in 2022 drew widespread criticism and protest at the time.
By 2024, the city’s direct management of the space had proven lackluster, leaving the space closed more than two out of every three days, WLRN reported.
Local businesses along the busy tourist strip complained that foot traffic from events was down and that the building was becoming an eyesore.
“The Tower going back to Miami Dade College is huge. I think it’s going to be incredible for local artists and the local economy and I think it’s going to brighten up the strip again,” said filmmaker Colom.
Many speakers at Thursday’s meeting said that the theater had recently been hosting more live theater events, and that live theater venues in the city were lacking.
The city commission did not offer any comments about change in direction before directing the city manager to negotiate the new management agreement with the college.
