Miami commissioners vote to negotiate sale of historic Olympia Theater

Final deal postponed until more details fleshed out
The shady deal to hand over the historic Olympia Theater to the operators of a charter school for $10 is so half-baked that even Miami city commissioners, to their credit, asked Thursday for a more complete picture before they rubber-stamp it.
Commissioners voted instead and unanimously to have City Manager Art Noriega negotiate the agreement with Sports Leadership Arts Management, a 6-12 school which is operated by the giant and politically-connected Academica, the Walmart of charter schools, which also owns about $115 million in Florida real estate, mostly schools that don’t pay taxes. Noriega can’t execute the agreement until he brings it back to them in September for approval. He was tasked with bringing appraisals of the property and more guarantees about community partnerships and public benefits.
The city manager admitted at last week’s meeting that the agreement, which has been in flux with changing drafts, was only 80% complete. One would think that, by now, he would be better at giving away multi-million dollar public properties on the fly. He also added that any agreement would be contingent on having miami Dade College involved.
Under the draft deal, the city would sell the deed to the Olympia and its adjacent 10-story tower — basically a whole city block downtown — to SLAM, which has 2,000 students, for a measly $10. They will operate the school out of the building and restore the aging theater. SLAM’s parent company, Academica — the Walmart of charter schools — promises to invest $50 million to renovate the 1926 Mediterranean beauty. And they’ll throw in 180 days of “community programming,” though the contract doesn’t spell out what that actually means. Or what happens to the other 185 days of the year.
Read related: Miami city commission set to give away historic Olympia Theater — for $10
Even Joe Carollo sounded reasonable (which should be a red flag on its own): “We need to get all the facts so we can make a sound judgment,” he said. “Not one in emotions.” Someone should put that recording on a loop. We might need it later.
Always the contradiction, Carollo also gave $5 million at the same meeting to Centro Mater Academy, another school affiliated with the owners of Academica (more on that later).
Chairwoman Christine King said she wanted to”assurances in writing that children in my district can attend this school.” That’s usually all it takes for her — a bone or two thrown at District 5.
Many residents have come out against the proposal, mostly because it’s an inside deal with zero transparency, but also because they’re scared to lose the integrity of the theater. They point to the Miami Forever bond monies, of which $79 million had been earmarked for parks and cultural facilities — none has been awarded to the Olympia — and say the city can afford its own renovation with grants and by selling the development rights of the theater, which can’t build to its maximum capacity because of it’s historic designation.
They’ve had press conferences and an online petition drive that has more than 1,000 signatures and practically begged commissioners Thursday to slow their roll.
“Living in the city of Miami is being heartbroken over and over again,” Morningside resident Jessica Johnson told commissioners. “Because time and time again, we watch you abandon what matters most: Our shared spaces, our history and historic buildings, our culture and creativity, our small businesses and homeowners, our trees — don’t weaken the tree ordinance — our green spaces, our waterways — all sacrificed in favor of real estate developers, political favors and money.”
Johnson grew up in Miami. Her father founded the Miami Jazz Festival at Bayfront Park. Then, she lived in New York City for a while, where she was able to experience what it was like to have world-class institutions that are accessible to the public. “And, more importantly, what it feels like when your city values them. Institutions that are preserved, funded and treated as essential to civic life.
What makes matters worse, she says, is that the city is deaf to residents’ pleas. When they “offer real solutions and plead for fairness, it feels always like we are being met with contempt. Our protests are brushed off. Our demands for transparency are met with gaslighting, blame shifting, cover ups and lies.”
Welcome back to the city of Miami, Jess.
Lifetime Miami resident Zully Pardo called this deal what it smells like: “a no-bid giveaway.” She also blamed the city for having failed in the stewardship of the historic landmark and this “manufactured pressure campaign to transfer ownership of the theater to a charter school and its private for profit management company.
“There are no safeguard or commitments that can justify giving away this valuable resource,” she said, begging the commissioners to stop the deal and open a “clear and transparent” public bidding process where the city would provide incentives before the “treasured landmark will be lost to the public realm.”
Read related: Petition aims to add Miami commission districts, change election to even years
Cuban-American pianist and producer Orlando Alonso urged commissioners to put the deal on pause and look at alternatives, like the one he has presented twice to the city manager to restore and operate the Olympia much like the Lincoln Center in New York. He called on newly-elected Commissioner Ralph Rosado, who served on the Miami Forever Bond oversight board when the funds were recommended for the Olympia, to stop the sale.
“You can now realize that as a commissioner. Now you can do it. This is your moment,” Lopez told him. “Don’t be the commissioner that gave away the Olympia. Be the one who saves it.”
Denise Galvez Turros, a former member of the historic preservation board who is running for District 3 commissioner, said that most of the opposition wasn’t because Academica was behind the deal. She said it was because residents don’t trust the city — and she doesn’t trust the city manager to negotiate the agreement.
“He said in public comment ‘Oh, historic preservation has never been a priority.’ It could be,” Galvez Turros said, citing the money spent on SUVs for the commissioners and syphoned from Bayfront Park. She said the money for the theather’s restoration found.
“For years on a monthly basis, we would ask for updates on the Olympia Theatre. We knew it was in dire need of repairs. Nothing was done,” Galvez said. “The opposition and the skepticism is because of the distrust with the city of Miami’s past deals with Melreese, Freedom Park, Marlins Park. All of those.
“This is not about Academica being a bad steward, this is about transparency.”
But there were some who said it was, indeed, about the for-profit hiding behind a non-profit to get this deal.
“This is a genius scheme by Academica to rip away taxpayer dollars,” said Maria Gonzalez. “Who wouldn’t want that deal? Truly genius. Academica you get an A for swindling the people.”
Many of those who spoke in favor were students and teachers or staff at SLAM. Principal Carlos O. Alvarez gave an impassioned speech about the theater coming “back to life” — even if it seemed like it was reading from talking points from Academica’s PR branch.
“The Olympic Theater won’t be driven by students and a school. It will be driven by our community, the passion for bringing back the performing arts. ” Alvarez said, and it would be nice if he would call it by the correct name, Olympia not Olympic. “That same drive will be infused into our classroom and spark curiosity and passion for students that thrive in the performing arts.
“Together we can create programs and pathways in music, entertainment, arts, audio visual, all with the main purpose of enabling and empowering students to give back to their community through workforce development and college readiness,” Alvarez said.
So it really is driven by students and a school.
Others supporters said they see this deal as the best way to save the Olympia Theater, before it’s too late to stop the wrecking ball. And they trust the school and Academica to be able to do it.
“This project isn’t just about preserving a historic building, it’s about transforming our cultural landscape,” said Armando Lopez, an artist and musician who reminded everybody how few good venues there are for local talent. “With SLAM leading the way, the Olympia has the opportunity to be the heart of the arts community again.”
“It’s such a beautiful building,” Miami-Dade Professor Stella Santamaria told commissioners, “and most of the time it is just laying there empty. What makes this proposal different is the group that is stepping up are true stewards. They are not just patching things up. They have a real plan and they are not asking taxpayers to foot the bill.
“I keep picturing how great it would be to go again to the Olympia.”
The city, meanwhile, “has failed as a steward of the Olympia Theater,” said Debbie Dolson. And she’s not wrong.
Read related: Secret giveaway of Miami’s Olympia Theater is on city commission agenda
In 1975, philanthropist Maurice Gusman gave the Olympia and its office building to the city — but not without strings. He insisted the Miami Parking Authority manage the property, because even then, he didn’t trust Miami politicians with cultural treasures. He just knew.
Fast-forward to 2011: MPA stepped away and the building became increasingly neglected. In 2018, the city’s own code compliance division basically said there would be a demolition order if repairs weren’t made and the building wasn’t brought up to standards. That’s sorta like telling your roommate you’re going to burn the house down if she doesn’t do the dishes.
The next year, Gusman’s heirs sued to take it back, citing the broken covenant. That lawsuit is still pending — and is basically why we are here now. The Gusman family is completely on board with this new deal, as long as SLAM gets it, said their attorney, Timothy Barket, who so eloquently told residents at a community meeting that this was never their building and to basically shut up because they have no real say in it.
At that same community meeting before the vote, Academica CEO Fernando Zulueta said the Gusman family called him “months ago” to ask if they were interested in doing something. But Ladra thinks this has been cooking since Zulueta was a guest on Mayor Francis Suarez‘s podcast, where Baby X called him a “genius” who was transforming education.
In other words, this is a backroom deal that has been cooking for a while.
City commissioners will revisit the negotiated agreement in September, assuming they’re not too busy moving elections around or yelling at each other about one stupid thing or another.
Before that, Rosado asked the city administration to prepare an FAQ because he had received a “barrage of questions” about it.
May Ladra suggest some questions that should be answered: Why are we giving away one of our crown jewels for pennies? Why no open bidding? Why the rush? And who really benefits?
One thing is certain: if the Olympia Theater ends up in the hands of a charter school empire for less than the price of a two-topping pizza, it won’t just be another Miami story.
It’ll be another Miami tragedy.
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