LOL Al, you were not the only one. The majority of us theater employess, being in our late teens/early 20s and whatnot, had older, used cars at the time. Had a few struggles going up that ramp myself!
Youseff my old friend, I hate to call out an inaccuracy in an otherwise outstanding post, but I can’t let you gloss over your time at Cinema 10 at Miracle Center just like that—– you were at the Riviera from 1992 to 1999, don’t forget you were with us at Miracle Center from March 1990 after you came over from Intracostal to late ‘92!
Great to find you on here Youseff. Riviera was a terrific theater when Mr. Bessiso took it over from Billy Byron, I had the pleasure of attending as a patron there several times. He also brought a great deal of creativity and passion to Miracle Center as well during his tenure there, which he has apparently developed amnesia about! :)
I am planning to add an entry about Miracle Center, we’re going to need your memories on there Youseff! Here are some triggers: Manny Arce, Mike Doss, Barry Catoe, Mikey, and of course Otero!!
JWX and spiderman, great memories on the details! Treasure Island was the downstairs game area with the carousel and the awesome selection of video games while the name of the upstairs game room in the later years escapes me at the moment.
That mall had a certain electricity for all ages in the late 70s/early 80s. I remember going there with the YMCA Jose Marti in the summer of ‘82 to watch ET. What a blast! The anticipation of hitting the video games AND watching a movie in the Omni was almost too much to bear!
Yeah, the area was rough even in the late 70s/early 80s. As older friends of mine who patronized the Alexander and Scaramouche nightclubs housed in the Omni hotel area during that time tell me now, you valet parked ONLY when you went to the club, you did not under any circumstances park along the surrounding streets!
I believe the actual original space is now split up over several stores in the strip mall. Two of the managers I worked with during my time at Cinema 10 at Miracle Center in the late 80s/early 90s had started out as ushers at this theater in the early-to-mid 80s.
An update and a correction on a coule of things. Al, the Gables Triple and Cinema 10 at the Miracle Center actually did co-exist for 2 months in 1989. Miracle Center, whose opening was between March 1st and 3rd of 1989 overlapped with the final 2 months of Gables, which closed up shop for good in May 1989. I happen to have some first-hand knowledge as I worked at the Miracle Center theater for three years between ‘89 and '92, and had a couple of co-workers who were part of the final crew at the Gables Triple and even worked both jobs for those couple of months!
An update on the Miracle Center location: It is set to re-open as Miracle Marketplace sometime next year. No word on whether there will be a theater. Incidentally, the “latin American style mess of tiny discount shops” you’re remembering Al, is when they rechristened the mall as “Paseos” back around ‘97 as a sort of last-ditch effort.
I remember watching the Pirate Movie starring Kristy McNichol there on either Memorial or Labor Day after returning from a long weekend hotel stay in North Miami Beach. How late 70s/early 80s Miami is that, LOL!
Looks like AMC finally shut it down last Sunday, September 13th.
This was originally the first-run Westbird 8 operated by General Cinema, probably deserves its own entry.
Thank you for putting this entry together Al, I was always intrigued by the relatively short lifespan of this theater.
I’ve created a Facebook page for all ex-employees/patrons of the Cinema 10 at Miracle Center:
View link
LOL Al, you were not the only one. The majority of us theater employess, being in our late teens/early 20s and whatnot, had older, used cars at the time. Had a few struggles going up that ramp myself!
Youseff my old friend, I hate to call out an inaccuracy in an otherwise outstanding post, but I can’t let you gloss over your time at Cinema 10 at Miracle Center just like that—– you were at the Riviera from 1992 to 1999, don’t forget you were with us at Miracle Center from March 1990 after you came over from Intracostal to late ‘92!
Great to find you on here Youseff. Riviera was a terrific theater when Mr. Bessiso took it over from Billy Byron, I had the pleasure of attending as a patron there several times. He also brought a great deal of creativity and passion to Miracle Center as well during his tenure there, which he has apparently developed amnesia about! :)
I am planning to add an entry about Miracle Center, we’re going to need your memories on there Youseff! Here are some triggers: Manny Arce, Mike Doss, Barry Catoe, Mikey, and of course Otero!!
JWX and spiderman, great memories on the details! Treasure Island was the downstairs game area with the carousel and the awesome selection of video games while the name of the upstairs game room in the later years escapes me at the moment.
That mall had a certain electricity for all ages in the late 70s/early 80s. I remember going there with the YMCA Jose Marti in the summer of ‘82 to watch ET. What a blast! The anticipation of hitting the video games AND watching a movie in the Omni was almost too much to bear!
Yeah, the area was rough even in the late 70s/early 80s. As older friends of mine who patronized the Alexander and Scaramouche nightclubs housed in the Omni hotel area during that time tell me now, you valet parked ONLY when you went to the club, you did not under any circumstances park along the surrounding streets!
I believe the actual original space is now split up over several stores in the strip mall. Two of the managers I worked with during my time at Cinema 10 at Miracle Center in the late 80s/early 90s had started out as ushers at this theater in the early-to-mid 80s.
An update and a correction on a coule of things. Al, the Gables Triple and Cinema 10 at the Miracle Center actually did co-exist for 2 months in 1989. Miracle Center, whose opening was between March 1st and 3rd of 1989 overlapped with the final 2 months of Gables, which closed up shop for good in May 1989. I happen to have some first-hand knowledge as I worked at the Miracle Center theater for three years between ‘89 and '92, and had a couple of co-workers who were part of the final crew at the Gables Triple and even worked both jobs for those couple of months!
An update on the Miracle Center location: It is set to re-open as Miracle Marketplace sometime next year. No word on whether there will be a theater. Incidentally, the “latin American style mess of tiny discount shops” you’re remembering Al, is when they rechristened the mall as “Paseos” back around ‘97 as a sort of last-ditch effort.
I remember watching the Pirate Movie starring Kristy McNichol there on either Memorial or Labor Day after returning from a long weekend hotel stay in North Miami Beach. How late 70s/early 80s Miami is that, LOL!