The Olympia Theater is a theater located in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Designed by John Eberson in his famed

atmospheric An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

style, the theater opened in 1926. Throughout its history, the venue has served as a movie theater, concert venue and performing arts center. In 1984, it received historical designation by the

NRHP The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of sites, buildings, structures, districts, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. The Olympia Theatre, the Florida Theatre, and the Tampa Theatre are the only remaining atmospheric theatres in Florida.

Background

In 1924, Paramount Enterprises, Inc. commissioned a theater in the

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

area. Cities chosen for consideration were:

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

, Miami,

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

and Sarasota. Architect John Eberson was hired to design the theater, after the success of his work with the

Majestic Theatre Majestic Theatre or Majestic Theater may refer to: Australia * Majestic Theatre, Adelaide, former name of a theatre in King William Street, Adelaide, built 1916, now demolished *Majestic Theatre, Launceston, a former cinema in Tasmania designed by ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Blueprints were completed in December 1924. Miami was chosen as the city and the theater was built on the site of the former "Airdome", an open-air movie theater. Construction began in May 1925 for the "Miami Theatre and Office Building". Eberson designed the theater to replicate a Spanish garden. The venue was completed in January 1926. The venue was renamed the "Olympia Theater and Office Building" by the wife of the land owner, Mrs. A.E. Rickmers. The name was changed to match its Mediterranean design style. The theater opened on February 18, 1926 as a silent movie theater. As the movie entertainment changed, so did the purpose of the theater. By 1929, talking pictures and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

grew in popularity. The theater began to host many acts including the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...

and Gypsy Rose Lee. By the 1950s, the theater hosted numerous concerts. The theater gained notoriety after 15 sold-out performances by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

in August 1956. The 50s and 60s saw performances from

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

Della Reese Della Reese (born Delloreese Patricia Early; July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017) was an American singer, actress, television personality, author and ordained minister. As a singer, she recorded blues, gospel, jazz and pop. Several of her singl ...

and B.B. King. By the late 1960s, the use of the theater declined. Plans were underway to demolish the theater and convert the space into a parking lot. In 1970, the venue was purchased by businessman and philanthropist, Maurice Gusman. He later hired famed local architect, Morris Lapidus to renovated the main auditorium. The capacity was reduced from 2,000 to 1,700. In 1972, the renovated theater became the home of the Greater Miami Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1975, Gusman donated the property to the City of Miami. Renovations continued on the theater from 1975 to 1977. The former movie palace was converted to a rock concert venue and named the "Gusman Cultural Center". With the new era, the theater hosted concerts by

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapis ...

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

, Molly Hatchet,

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

and Supertramp. In 1984, the theater was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. However, the theater faced another decline in the late 80s. This time, plans included converting the property into a retail space. The Gusman Estate moved against the changes and created a non-profit organization, the Friends of Gusman, to help create funds to improve the aging building. Renovations began in 1989 to convert the former rock venue into a performing arts center. The theater reopened in 1994. The theater changed names once again to the "Gusman Center for the Performing Arts". The venue continued to concerts by the Florida Philharmonic (defunct),

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart w ...

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

. In 2000, restoration work began on the theater's original artwork. Also, plans were underway to repair the building's structure and exterior frame. The venue had a grand reopening in October 2002, under the name the "Olympia Theater at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts". In 2009, another rounds of renovations began to repair the stage, acoustics, HVAC systems, replace seating and restore the original Olympia marquee. Capacity was reduced from 1,700 to 1,500. In 2010, the Olympia Center, Inc. was formed to manage and operate the venue. The team works with various promotion companies including AEG Live, Shock Entertainment, the Rhythm Foundation and Poplife. In 2014, the venue changed to its original name, "Olympia Theater". Concerts included

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

and

Damien Rice Damien George Rice (born 7 December 1973) is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. He began his career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper (band), Juniper, who were signed to Polygram Records in 1997. The band enjoyed moderate succe ...

. The cost and effort of maintaining a COVID-19 pandemic shuttered venue with major capital needs and urgent repairs was not sustainable. The Board of Directors and Executive Staff faced the difficult decision to return management and operation of the historic Olympia Theater & Office Building to the City of Miami in 2020.

Significance

On April 18, 2012, the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

's Florida Chapter placed the building on its list of ''Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places'' as the Olympia Theater at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts. Include
the full list

References

{{Authority control National Register of Historic Places in Miami Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Vaudeville theaters Theatres in Miami John Eberson buildings Music venues in Florida Atmospheric theatres Morris Lapidus buildings Theatres completed in 1926