‘They better listen to us.’ Protesters slam city’s removal of MDC from Tower Theater

Ever since she arrived in Miami from Cuba at age 17, Margarita Batlle has loved watching films from around the world at Miami Dade College’s Tower Theater. These days, she often comes on weekends to enjoy a peaceful evening at the historic theater on Little Havana’s Calle Ocho.

But on Tuesday morning, Batlle came to the theater livid. Instead of her usual movie ticket, she held a sign with a message for the City of Miami government: “COMMISSIONERS - HANDS OFF!!!”

Batlle was one of a couple of dozen local residents and filmmakers who protested outside of the Tower Theater against the city’s recent decision to terminate its contract with Miami Dade College, which has operated the theater since 2002. On Sept. 19, the city’s Department of Real Estate and Asset Management sent a notice to MDC saying that the city will take over the theater when the college’s contract ends in January 2023.

“Save the theater!” the protesters chanted in English and Spanish.

The news enraged Miami’s local film and arts community along with many residents who approve of MDC’s management and see the theater as cultural beacon for the city’s Cuban-American community. Batlle, 78, said the city has crossed a line.

“Is it the job of the government to decide what is good art and what is not? What I should see? And what I should not see?” Batlle said at the protest. “No. This is really taken from Fidel Castro’s handbook.”

The protest was organized by several local filmmakers who support MDC’s leadership and are skeptical of the city’s plans, said filmmaker Chris Molina. After learning about MDC’s eviction from the theater, Molina started a petition on change.org to urge the city to reconsider. As of Tuesday, the petition had over 6,000 signatures, surpassing its original goal of a couple thousand.

Molina climbed on a chair to address the crowd gathered on the sidewalk. He said the theater has been instrumental in boosting the films and careers of local artists.

“So many of us have had their grandparents come to the movies here when they first got [to Miami] and now our movies are premiering here. That’s huge,” Molina said. “It’s cheesy, but it’s the American Dream.”

The Tower Theater originally opened in 1926. In the 1960s, the theater introduced many newly arrived Cuban refugees to American culture with its movies and later became known for showing English-language films with Spanish subtitles along with Spanish-language films. The theater was closed for several years until the city authorized MDC to reopen and operate the venue. Since then, the theater has been lauded as a hub for supporting local and Latin American films and is the home of the Miami Film Festival.

An MDC spokesperson told the Herald that the college had been in talks with the city to renew its lease for 20 months. Sometimes the college would go months without hearing back, the spokesperson said.

Though the contract termination came as a shock to many residents, city commissioners have been making moves to remove MDC from the theater, according to reporting by the Miami New Times. Commissioner Joe Carollo sponsored a measure to replace MDC with the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association, Brigade 2506, to “better operate” the property. The veterans group wasn’t interested, and the resolution was removed.

During a press conference Monday afternoon, Carollo addressed some rumors and concerns regarding the theater. He stressed that the city has invested millions into the theater and would not demolish the building or replace it with a commercial business.

He laid out some plans for the theater’s future. Besides playing movies, Carollo said the city wants the building to double as a visitor welcome center that would charge tourists a small fee to watch short “documentaries” promoting attractions in Little Havana and in Miami’s city limits. Carollo added that the building would also be a venue for live theater and rotating art exhibitions. (MDC started an arts exhibition program at the theater in August.)

“The use of the Tower Theater is nowhere near its maximum use,” Carollo said at the press conference.

Carollo expressed frustration at critics who do not want the city to regain control of the theater even though it owns the property and claimed that “very, very few people” visit the theater on weekends. He cited a security guard who works at Domino Park across the street who told him that “she doesn’t count more than 10 people that go there to see a movie.”

He added that the city is “grateful” for MDC’s management, “but this is not their forte.”

“Miami Dade College has done a fine job with what they do, but they’re a college to educate people,” Carollo said. “They’re not a movie theater or arts provider.”

Lauren Cohen, the Miami Film Festival director of programming, took to Instagram to rebuke Carollo’s claims that the theater doesn’t attract many visitors. She posted a video of a long line of people waiting to get inside the theater for sold-out screenings of the film “Argentina, 1985.”

MDC responded to the city’s press conference with a statement Monday evening. The college said that it appreciates Carollo’s “excellent ideas as a leader who knows this community so well” and invited him to be the founding chairman of a new community advisory board.

“There is no need to change management; Miami Dade College can implement many of his excellent ideas in as little as 30 days — much sooner than a change in management,” the statement said.

Protesters had less than kind words to say about Carollo.

Ana Roca, a professor emerita at Florida International University, scoffed at the commissioner’s comments about MDC’s abilities to provide arts programming. Roca said the city needs to reverse its decision or face the wrath of local voters.

“They better listen to us because we have the power of the vote,” Roca said. “We are protesting, both Republicans and Democrats.”

Filmmaker Mark Pulaski credited MDC with sparking his interest in the Tower Theater. Though he is from Miami, he did not visit the theater until MDC started the Miami Film Festival. Since then, several of the movies he has worked on have premiered there. Now, he said, the theater’s future is uncertain.

“I don’t think that Miami Dade College thinks of this as a moneymaking venture for them,” he said. “They’re doing it to promote the arts.”

Hiram Ruiz was not convinced by Carollo’s statements either. Ruiz grew up near the theater and said it was one of the first movie venues he went to as a child. When it reopened, MDC “brought it to life,” he said.

“It’s totally incomprehensible to me why city commissioners — or a particular one — would want to change it when it’s worked so well,” he said. “There’s so many things here that don’t work well. This is something that functions very nicely.”

This story was produced with financial support from The Pérez Family Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.