{"id":110818,"date":"2026-01-08T20:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T20:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/110818\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T20:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T20:12:10","slug":"city-hands-tower-theater-management-back-to-miami-dade-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/110818\/","title":{"rendered":"City Hands Tower Theater Management Back to Miami Dade College"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMiami Dade College will manage the Tower Theater once again.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Miami Dade College photo<\/p>\n

At the first city commission meeting of 2026, newly elected Mayor Eileen Higgins <\/a>and District 3 Commissioner Rolando Escalona succeeded in handing control of the historic Tower Theater<\/a> on Calle Ocho back to Miami Dade College (MDC).<\/p>\n

In a resolution on the agenda for Thursday\u2019s commission meeting<\/a>, Escalona and Higgins propose that the city manager negotiate and execute a 20-year management agreement with MDC for the theater, with automatic renewals every five years. <\/p>\n

MDC had operated the theater for more than 20 years before the city declined to renew its management contract with the college in 2022. Despite protests from Miami artists and filmmakers<\/a>, the city commission voted in 2023 to hand operations to District 3, where the theater is located, under then-Commissioner Joe Carollo. Initially, Carollo wanted to hand control over the theater and its parking lot to the Bay of Pigs Veteran Association, Brigade 2506, to build a museum and affordable housing. That plan was scrapped after the group said it did not wish to operate the property<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But there was a role reversal of sorts during public comments at Thursday\u2019s meeting. This time, it was the artists who protested handing the reins back over to Miami Dade College.<\/p>\n

Little Havana business leaders largely spoke out in support of the resolution. But a collective of stage actors, many affiliated with local theater organization Ruta Teatral, opposed the move, arguing local artists should have a say in the theater\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe management of the Tower must be financially secure, yes, but it must also be supported by strong artists and creative leadership,\u201d said actor Saul Mauricio Mendoza<\/a>, founder of Ruta Teatral. Though the Tower Theater is not listed on its site\u2019s directory of affiliated theaters, many of the actors who spoke at the meeting said the theater has become a home base for their productions. They also stated that the sudden move would jeopardize contracts for this year\u2019s productions.<\/p>\n

Actress Queca Gordillo<\/a>, who spoke on behalf of nonprofit Primer Acto Florida Foundation, said, \u201cThe Tower Theater is not the success of a single organization; it\u2019s the collective achievement of many small theaters and cultural companies in Miami, who, with hard work, collaboration, and mutual support, have turned this space into a cultural heart of the city.\u201d She then abandoned her notes and pleaded with the commissioners for \u201ca second thought about the management\u201d and asked them to \u201crespect all the programming for 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denise Galvez, interim director of Viernes Culturales and founder of Latinas for Trump<\/a>, argued that\u00a0 \u201cthere was never any regular programming\u201d at the theater after MDC stopped managing it. \u201cForget about what\u2019s happening on the inside,\u201d she continued. \u201cIt was always meant to be a film theater. It\u2019s equipped to be a film theater.\u201d She also argued that the new management should have the means to preserve and restore the property. \u201cMDC is willing to restore that marquee. It\u2019s a historical asset of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suzy Batlle, founder of Azucar Ice Cream Company, which is located directly across the street from the Tower Theater, echoed those sentiments. \u201cThere are five other live performance venues in Little Havana,\u201d she said, addressing the actors who spoke earlier. \u201cIf there were so many people there, why is it always closed?\u201d she added, eliciting jeers from the crowd.<\/p>\n

In the end, the commissioners declined to pull the item for further discussion, and the management handover passed as part of a group of resolutions less than two hours into the commission meeting.<\/p>\n

Watch the City of Miami Commission meeting:<\/p>\n

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