The Shrine Building, also known as Boulevard Shops, is an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

commercial building Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

Miami, Florida 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 ...

built in 1930. It was designed by Robert Law Weed and is an "elegant, local interpretation" of the Art Deco style including

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

Indian motifs. The second floor was occupied by the Mahi Shriners for thirteen years, from 1930 to 1943. The Shrine Building was part of a construction plan for

Biscayne Boulevard U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) in Florida runs along the state's east coast from Key West to its crossing of the St. Marys River into Georgia north of Boulogne and south of Folkston. US 1 was designated through Florida when the U.S. ...

as a high-end shopping district dubbed the "Fifth Avenue of the South." The Biscayne Boulevard Company designed the Boulevard as a self-sufficient shopping experience where the consumer could fulfill every need, as a forerunner to the modern

shopping center A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

. The Shrine Building and the surrounding shops were all built in the

style. It was covered in a study of Downtown Miami historic resources. The Shrine Building reflects the historical, cultural, economical and social development trends of Miami during the later 1920s and early 1930s. The Shrine Building was one of many stores built by the Biscayne Boulevard Company in an effort to establish a new shopping area for the

Greater Miami The Miami metropolitan area is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the sixth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the lar ...

area. The Sears, Roebuck and Company Department Store (Miami, Florida), built in 1929, is another Art Deco standout in the area. This property was determined to be National Register-eligible as of January 3, 1989 (see NRIS refnum #88002997) but it was not actually listed on the National Register due to owner objection.

References

{{reflist Commercial buildings completed in 1930 Buildings and structures in Miami Art Deco architecture in Florida Former Masonic buildings in Florida 1930 establishments in Florida Shriners

See also

References