XXX TURNS TO ZZZZZZ: BEACH ADULT CINEMA SHUT
Miami Herald, The (FL) - June 26, 1989
Author: DAVID ZEMAN Herald Staff Writer
For more than a decade, the Roosevelt Theater has leered lasciviously at passing motorists as they slide across the Julia Tuttle Causeway into Miami Beach’s business district.
But the adult movie theater closed with scarcely a whimper this month, canceling -- perhaps forever -- the South Florida showing of Seven Minutes in Heaven.
Merchants along 41st Street wonder what took so long.
"In two years here, I don’t think I saw a half-dozen people go into that theater," said Paul Steinberg, a lawyer who works across the street.
His figures do not include the lawyers in his office who used to jokingly don raincoats when they crossed the road for popcorn. Only for popcorn.
It’s hard to conceive that the same theater that bowed out with sex romps was originally called the Lemonade Theater when it opened in 1949 because free lemonade was served during intermission. The Roosevelt showed first-run movies then and even put on plays before converting to "adult" flicks about 15 years ago.
Yet even its detractors concede that the sex palace has become a part of the local fabric.
Thomas Coltrane, who runs a realty office next door, said the theater has guided many customers to his otherwise nondescript office.
"A 75-year-old lady once called me and said, ’I just can’t imagine how to get to your place,’ " said Coltrane. "I told her we were right next to the dirty movie theater. She said, ’Oh, I know exactly where you are.’ "
The marquee has been empty since building owner Ted Konover bought out the lease from the theater’s operator, Irwin Knohl, the first week in June. Konover, who purchased the building in 1985, and Knohl both refused to be interviewed.
However, Steinberg said Konover has shown him plans to build a restaurant, stores and offices where the Roosevelt stands abandoned at 770 41st St.
Peeking inside the fingerprint-smudged glass doors, visitors can still ogle the posters promoting coming attractions.
There’s the sentimental Legend of Lady Blue, a movie "for those who still remember the first time"; Satin Suite, a "film" that won the praise of Hustler’s discerning art critic; and a medical docudrama, The Naughty Nurse.
Rabbi Gary Glickstein of nearby Temple Beth Sholom recalled when the Roosevelt began promoting Debbie Does Dallas two days before the temple was to host an Israeli Independence Day festival in 1975.
Panicky elders from the temple prevailed on the Roosevelt to delay the ad campaign for a week.
"It’s probably the best thing that’s happened to Arthur Godfrey Road in the last 10 years," said Steinberg of the closing. "This is the gateway to Miami Beach and the business district. To have a large marquee advertising triple X-rated movies is not the first impression you want people to have."
The Roosevelt might have fallen victim to a take-out mentality, said Joe Bueno, manager of Video Variety in Miami Beach. Bueno said adult movies make up 50 percent of his store’s weekend rentals.
But the adult movie theater closed with scarcely a whimper this month, canceling -- perhaps forever -- the South Florida showing of Seven Minutes in Heaven.
Merchants along 41st Street wonder what took so long.
"In two years here, I don’t think I saw a half-dozen people go into that theater," said Paul Steinberg, a lawyer who works across the street.
His figures do not include the lawyers in his office who used to jokingly don raincoats when they crossed the road for popcorn. Only for popcorn.
It’s hard to conceive that the same theater that bowed out with sex romps was originally called the Lemonade Theater when it opened in 1949 because free lemonade was served during intermission. The Roosevelt showed first-run movies then and even put on plays before converting to "adult" flicks about 15 years ago.
Yet even its detractors concede that the sex palace has become a part of the local fabric.
Thomas Coltrane, who runs a realty office next door, said the theater has guided many customers to his otherwise nondescript office.
"A 75-year-old lady once called me and said, ’I just can’t imagine how to get to your place,’ " said Coltrane. "I told her we were right next to the dirty movie theater. She said, ’Oh, I know exactly where you are.’ "
The marquee has been empty since building owner Ted Konover bought out the lease from the theater’s operator, Irwin Knohl, the first week in June. Konover, who purchased the building in 1985, and Knohl both refused to be interviewed.
However, Steinberg said Konover has shown him plans to build a restaurant, stores and offices where the Roosevelt stands abandoned at 770 41st St.
Peeking inside the fingerprint-smudged glass doors, visitors can still ogle the posters promoting coming attractions.
There’s the sentimental Legend of Lady Blue, a movie "for those who still remember the first time"; Satin Suite, a "film" that won the praise of Hustler’s discerning art critic; and a medical docudrama, The Naughty Nurse.
Rabbi Gary Glickstein of nearby Temple Beth Sholom recalled when the Roosevelt began promoting Debbie Does Dallas two days before the temple was to host an Israeli Independence Day festival in 1975.
Panicky elders from the temple prevailed on the Roosevelt to delay the ad campaign for a week.
"It’s probably the best thing that’s happened to Arthur Godfrey Road in the last 10 years," said Steinberg of the closing. "This is the gateway to Miami Beach and the business district. To have a large marquee advertising triple X-rated movies is not the first impression you want people to have."
The Roosevelt might have fallen victim to a take-out mentality, said Joe Bueno, manager of Video Variety in Miami Beach. Bueno said adult movies make up 50 percent of his store’s weekend rentals.
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