Miami Beach - A Trip Down Memory Lane

My Trip Down Memory Lane -
Collins Avenue, Miami Beach on down to Ocean Drive, South Beach.

By Sandi "D"
February 2009


“I Started Out To Go To Cuba, I Landed in Miami Beach. . . ” – Well actually I started out on a day trip to Miami Beach in my quest to not only relive my parents’ and grandparents’ stories about the fabulous 1950’s and 1960’s when Collins Avenue was the most celebrated resort playground in America, but to see the gentrification that has taken place in recent years.

First, a brief history of Miami Beach begins in 1870 when John Lum, from New Jersey, was returning from Havana, saw what is now Miami Beach from a ship, and decided it looked like a promising place to establish a coconut plantation. He and his son and wife tried to live in the area, but it was primarily a swampy jungle and so they gave up and left. Southern Florida got a boost from a man named Henry Flagler who co-founded Standard Oil with John D. Rockefeller. Despite being retired, Flagler became interested in Florida on a visit, and bought two railroads. He extended those further south than they had previously been, reaching Miami in 1896. The area really took off based on the efforts of a man by the name of Carl Fisher, an Indianapolis automobile baron. Fisher acquired a substantial amount of land, formed some of the islands which are now part of Miami Beach, including Star Island, Belle Island, and Sunset Island. The dredging also had the beneficial side effect of making Biscayne Bay suitable for recreational boating.The ultimate purpose of Fisher's huge investment was to sell the resulting property. He helped two Miami banker brothers, named J.E. and J.N. Lummus, set up the first real-estate company, Ocean Beach Realty. The main portion of Miami Beach was originally a peninsula. Fisher spent many years cultivating and promoting Miami Beach as a vacationland for people from the midwest and the northeast. He built incredible homes and hotels, and enticed his many millionaire friends to likewise develop elegant hotels and homes. It was his money and connections that largely were responsible for the upscale orientation that has long been a part of Miami Beach's (and South Beach's) history.

Mega-resort complexes like the Fontainebleau and the Eden Roc, built in the 1950’s, reigned as the leading resorts symbolizing the glamour of Miami Beach. Legendary celebrities and entertainers filled its nightclubs: Elvis Presley, Bob Hope, Lucille ball, Judy Garland and the fabulous ‘Rat Pack.’

The 1970s and 1980s were a down period for Miami Beach and especially for South Beach. In 1960, the average age of a Miami Beach resident was 50. In 1972, the average age had increased to 65. And not only were many of the residents fairly old, they were increasingly poor and suffering from bad health. South Beach was in fact nick-named "God's waiting room" by some. Crime was also rampant throughout the area. And so what was once a golden age for the resort area declined. By the 1980s, it became clear that something had to be done to bring back the glory days of Miami Beach. One major effort was the replenishment of the beach itself. By 1982, Miami Beach had a completely new beachfront. The resurrection had begun.

Fast forward to the present and the grandeur of the past is now and then some.

Collins Avenue is alive and vibrant with the luxury of the newly opened (November 2008) $1 billion reinvention and expansion of The Fontainebleau Miami Beach. When hotelier Ben Novack purchased the Firestone Mansion in 1952 for $2.3 million, he envisioned the creation of one of the most opulent and magnificent resorts in the word. . . The Fontainebleau Hotel. Today it is replete with 17,000 sq. foot lobby, 1504 rooms and two new towers, 11 restaurants and lounges, a 40,000 sq. foot spa and dramatic oceanfront. It still includes the legendary “Staircase to Nowhere” along with electrifying million dollar Ai WeiWei chandeliers and magnificent art and sculpture. Lunch at this fabulous resort was just the right choice.

Down the road is the newly transformed Eden Rock. Originally built in 1956 with a painting of “The Rat Pack” in its lobby, it is the recipient of a $200 million renovation still under completion, featuring 632 guest rooms as well as two new glass to ceiling oceanfront ballrooms and rooftop terrace. It is targeting convention groups boasting a 46,000 sq. feet of indoor meeting space and 25,000 sq. feet of outdoor meeting space. This timeless treasure was home to many celebrities including Milton Berle, Jerry Lewis, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Ed Sullivan and the Miss America Contests by the pool. It’s a luxurious beachfront venue replete with the new ‘Spa of Eden,’ restaurants and pools.

The Gansevoort Hotel was the vast 1960s building called the Roney Plaza and is now a 334-room hotel along one edge, with large 600 sq. foot rooms, and the rest of the building reserved for condominiums. The lobby, with a million-dollar shark tank, adds interest to the hotel’s many public spaces. Other hangouts include the roof bar called Plunge. But the masterstroke of the new owners was in persuading David Barton, of the eponymous gym chain, to open a large and gorgeously designed branch in the same complex.

The Delano, a 238-room hotel built in 1947 and named, in the patriotic spirit of that postwar time, after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, now boasts a $28 million renovation, perhaps a little surreal, by hotelier Ian Schrager. It is the Stateside resort for the St. Barts crowd. The Delano’s tower is four-winged and is one of the tallest buildings in the area. It is the first hotel in America with an indoor and outdoor lobby and features billowing floor-to-ceiling curtains and whimsical furniture. “Water Salon” - conceived by Philippe Starck as his first exercise in pool design, features underwater classical music, a continuous waterfall and furniture in the pool. The rooftop spa, Agua, offers a full line of treatments. The spa has a 360-degree view of Miami Beach and is modeled on an ancient bathhouse.

Step into the plush, revitalized, and effervescently alive Hotel Victor, located on popular Ocean Drive in the Art Deco District, meticulously redesigned by French designer, Jacques Garcia for a step back in time. Still present in the lobby are some of the original lighting fixtures, along with a wonderful photo of the original building. Hotel Victor reopened in February 2005 and features 89 luxurious rooms and has become a favorite among Hollywood heavy hitters including Paris Hilton, Adrienne Grainer, Sting and Ashlee Simpson.

When my producing partner and friend, Shari Upbin and I, completed our little Miami and South Beach hotel tour, we had to walk down the street from the Hotel Victor to the ultra fabulous former Versace Mansion, Casa Casuarina, to see the excitement where groups of on-lookers stood outside taking pictures. It is an exquisitely preserved 1930’s mansion built by architect, philanthropist, author and political reformer Alden Freeman as an homage to the oldest existing house in the western hemisphere, the “Alcazar de Colon” in Santo Domingo, which was home to Christopher Columbus’ son Diego in 1510. One of the Casa’s cornerstones contains original brick from the “Alcazar de Colon.” In 1992, world renowed couturier Gianni Versace saw Casa Casuarina for the first time. It was in great disrepair but Versace fell in love with it, purchased it and made substantial changes to the property. In September 2000, after Versace’s tragic death, Telecom exec Peter Loftin bought the Casa. It has been a members-only Private Club but is now operated as a luxury boutique hotel for discriminating visitors.

The Casa has ten suites, a high-end restaurant and boasts the famous thousand mosaic pool where we topped off our whirlwind day with a glass of wine and our own mini-tour of what we could see on the lower level. The full tour of the mansion costs $50 per person and suites run around $1000 a night, but that does include dinner.

If you’re inclined to days in the sun, miles of glorious beaches, upscale restaurants and luxurious hotels, Miami and South Beach is the place to be. Only 3 hours flying time from New York, it is a plethora of entertainment and activities and you’ll envision the days of yesteryear and, if you close your eyes, even see some of the greatest entertainers of all time still roaming the lobbies.