Tagged: Miami

The iconic Bacardi Tower and Museum located north of downtown Miami has been sold.

And in keeping with its artistic exterior, its interior will serve as a new home to the arts.

National YoungArts, Foundation,  created by Ted and Lin Arison in 1981, will set up shop in the blue-and-white-tiled building, which was designated historic in 2009.

The tower and the nearby smaller stained-glass building complex will be revamped in part by Frank Gehry, who designed the New World Symphony's home on Miami Beach.

The purchase price is $10 million.

A version of this story first ran in The Miami Herald on April 28, 2012.

When Starz network’s Magic City came to town last year to shoot their 1959 Miami Beach drama, producers were obsessive.

“God is in the details,” said Magic City’s executive producer, writer and Miami Beach native Mitch Glazer. “We were rigorous about everything across the board from music to architecture down to that.”

That meaning breast augmentation.

Ordering beer at a baseball game is as American as apple pie. So is forking over a small fortune for beer at a baseball game. Eight dollars for a Bud Light draft at Miami Marlins Park.

“It’s kind of weird,” says Shane Marinelli on his first visit to the new stadium. “I’m used to, like, $3 pitcher nights and like dollar beers and stuff. But I have no choice, you know, this is — this is expensive.”

Marinelli, a student at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, works part time at a sporting goods store. An $8 dollar beer soaks up a nice sized swig of his paycheck.

Miami recently jumped ten spots on Bicycling magazine’s list of the country’s top, bike-friendly cities. It’s the fastest rising city on the list.

But just four years ago, Miami was put on a list of the worst cities to bike in according to Bicycling magazine senior editor Emily Furia.

Journalist and  professor Madeleine Blais contemplates a move back to South Florida for a job teaching as a visiting professor at Florida International University.   As part of her employment paperwork, she’s asked to sign an oath of loyalty to the state of Florida.  As a journalist, this kind of thing makes her suspicious.  She reflects on her previous years in Miami as she contemplates signing the oath and moving back:

Experts say the city of Miami will face ‘a battle every year’ unless its leaders address structural problems with the budget. Hobbled by unimaginative leadership, passive management and petty political gamesmanship , the city careens from one budget shortfall to the next without fixing its fundamental fiscal problems.

Among the city’s chief issues, according to experts: spending beyond its means, ballooning pension costs and failing to generate new revenue.  Policy analysts say politics and poor decisions have made matters worse.

Mitt Romey made a stop at El Palacio de los Jugos, or the Palace of Juice, to reach out to Republican Latinos.

El Palacio is a popular Latino spot located on Coral Way in Miami.

Romney was met with an excited crowd at the event. However, experts will probably tell you that this isn't exactly a sign that Romney has a lock on the Hispanic vote.

In fact, polling shows that he doesn’t. With Latinos as a whole, Romney is doing best with South Florida's Cuban Republicans.

An era is ending at Miami City Ballet. In addition to the resignation of its founding director Edward Villella, his wife Linda is stepping down from her post at the helm of Miami City Ballet School on August 31st. 

A former professional ice skater, she never intended to immerse herself in the ballet world and follow her husband’s artistic pursuits. The idea sprung from her desire to create a ballet school for her daughter, Crista. She wanted a ballet school closer to her husband's Miami Beach company. 

The upcoming Democratic primary for Florida’s 24th Congressional District pits relative political newcomer Dr. Rudolph Moise against longtime politician and current 17th Congressional District Rep. Frederica Wilson.

The 24th District – new, from the 2012 redistricting – stretches from downtown Miami through Overtown and Little Haiti all the way to Miramar. It’s roughly the same stretch that Wilson currently represents as the 17th  District.

The disco craze that took the world by storm nearly 40 years ago was born in New York City, right?

Maybe not.

A theatrical experience celebrating 1970's disco comes to the Adrienne Arsht Center tonight.  And while it’s hundreds of miles away from the streets John Travolta struts down in “Saturday Night Fever,” it turns out Miami played a major role in the disco craze.