By Jay Whipple
Trend Magazine Online™
Well Done!cont′d
Trend Magazine Online™
Well Done!cont′d
Next up our guide covered the 11th
Street Diner which is believe-it-or-not located at the corner 11th
Street and Washington Avenue. Gina stated that this facility
was built in 1948 in Haledon, NJ and arrived here and
opened on September 11, 1992. She also mentioned that it was a
favorite of locals who loved their breakfast and lunch. She was so convincing
that I just had to check it out for myself for breakfast after our tour
concluded. Check out my
review here. Gina also covered the Old City Hall building in
which she said was the second one built and referenced Mr. Carl Fisher
again. She then pointed out some old buildings that were either motels or homes
that were made of local coral like the ones at 1030 and 1036 (old
Bel Air Motel) Washington Avenue. In addition she schooled us on the
origin of the term Motel which is derived from the terms Motor Hotel
that were popular amongst folks traveling via automobile. A lot of those motels
were built using the MIMO (Miami Modern) style design, she said,
mentioned earlier in this piece.
Our last stop on this very informative walking tour
was the Wolfsonian building located at 1001 Washington Avenue. It
is so named in honor of its first owner Mr. Mickey Wolfson whose father
(Mitchell) co-founded and owned the old Wometco Theaters that we
frequented growing up in Northwest Miami -- near Liberty City off
27th Avenue and about 81st Street -- across
from the Northside Shopping Center. At the time we were not aware that
we were enjoying flicks that are known today as Blaxploitation in terms
of their often derogatory and racist content like some of the rap hits our
young folks listen to today. I posed a question regarding that phenomenon to
one of the players from that genre' award-winning actor Mr. Glynn Turman;
read his response here.
The building, Gina said, was completed in 1927,
one year after the aforementioned 1926 hurricane. Perhaps that is why it
has no windows she pointed out. Today it is the home to FIU (Florida
International University) a staple in the area since its founding in 1965.
It has been used as a storage facility in the past (Washington Storage Company)
and the big doors were used to drive stuff in and out for loading and
unloading, she said; two stories were added in the mid-1930's and the
back area was recently added. In addition, it served as a hideout back when
gambling casinos were illegal here and South Beach was controlled by the
underground folks like Al Capone whose old home still sits on Fisher
Island. Lastly Gina pointed out the very cool sculptured head of Mr.
Wolfson on the upper south side of the building accompanied by those of the
architects and a surprising half face that represents the folks in the Miami
Beach permitting department. I can attest to having to deal with some of
those kinds of folks that sometimes motivate one to remember them in such an
unfavorable light. Smile!
