Lincoln Theatre

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“‘A 'Modern’ Theater Proudly Takes Shape on Lincoln Road, 1936.” 1936 photo & copy courtesy of the Miami & South Florida Memories Facebook page. –Paul Hampton Crockett

The photograph captures a “work in progress” on Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road. The cement was barely dry, in places, and the cavernous lobby existed only on paper, and in the brilliant mind of prominent theater architect and designer Thomas W. Lamb (1871-1942). The Scotch-born Lamb had emigrated to the USA as a boy of 12, found his way into Cooper Union School in New York City, and upon his graduation, proceeded to revolutionize the design of American cinema and theater in the 20th Century.

His earliest work helped define the look of New York City for many years, beginning with the City Theater in 1909, and, from 1914-17, a cluster of theaters all situated in the city’s Times Square, a site of unparalleled world prominence, including the Mark Strand, Rialto, and Rivoli Theatres. He quickly went on to earn his place as a luminous star in the celestial firmament of the Great American “Movie Palace,” building some of the most ornate and sumptuous public buildings to date, across the country.

He very much evolved with the times, or it might be said, the times evolved to keep up with him, and the Lincoln Theater seen here in 1936 reflected a brilliant take on exactly how a harmonious reconciliation might be reached between the undeniably pressing demands of “the Modern,” and a bottomless thirst for “the beautiful,” and gracious, in the Human heart. Tending carefully to people’s dreams had always been at the heart of Tom Lamb’s business, and of his success.

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Yet things change, always. It’s not so much that dreams are fickle, as that their fundamental nature is more dynamic, by far, than static. By the 1980’s this particular dream, once so compelling and alive, had been all but forgotten. The dark empty theater sat lonesome and derelict.

It was music that saved the day, and possibly even avoided for the building a fateful appointment with the wrecking ball. The proud old mess was purchased by Miami’s New World Symphony as a “home base” in 1990, and millions spent thereafter on its renovation and a faithful re-adaptation to the needs of today. I did not realize until writing this post that the Symphony had sold the building in 2010, and moved on to a larger and more suitable facility.

Yet the Lincoln Theater building still stands! It has “rolled with time’s punches,” and served generations faithfully, for many years now. Is it any wonder that people so love the place?

Thank you.