What’s happening with Miami’s Olympia Theater? Sale could get approval this week
A for-profit charter school network and the family of a Miami philanthropist are at the center of a controversial proposal to give away a historic but deteriorating downtown theater.
City officials say the proposed deal, in which Miami would give the 1920s-era Olympia Theater to the SLAM public charter school, is an opportunity to restore the dilapidated property to its former glory.
But some residents are skeptical, saying it feels like it was fast-tracked behind the scenes at the expense of the community — and because of the project’s ties to Academica, the for-profit charter school network that supports the nonprofit SLAM.
“You will be inspired when you walk through these doors. You’ll realize Miami can never let go of this asset, never give it away or sell it,” former city commissioner and current mayoral candidate Ken Russell said during a rally outside the theater last week. “Our city is only 120 years old — how can we give away our historic assets?”
Here is an explainer about the Olympia Theater deal that Miami city commissioners are expected to vote on Thursday.
City spokesperson Kenia Fallat said that “as it currently reads,” Thursday’s vote “would be the only vote” needed by the Miami City Commission to move the deal forward.
What is happening?
The city of Miami wants to give the historic Olympia Theater to a public charter school known as SLAM, which stands for Sports Leadership Arts Management.
Under the proposed deal, SLAM would purchase the 1926 theater and adjacent 10-story building for $10, according to a draft copy of the contract. The actual school would be housed in the adjacent building, and the theater would be used for cultural programming, according to SLAM officials.
Officials at SLAM and Academica have said there will be a minimum requirement for 180 days of community programming in the theater each year, though the draft contract does not yet include that language.
SLAM would be on the hook to pay what Academica has estimated to be tens of millions of dollars for renovations and repairs, in accordance with historic preservation rules. If it fails to do so, or if the property is no longer used for public education purposes, it will be returned to the city, according to the draft contract.
Who are the involved parties?
City of Miami: The city of Miami, which would deed the property to SLAM.
Academica: A private company that provides funding, staffing and operational services to public charter schools.
“We’re going to be able to begin breathing life into this facility,” Fernando Zulueta, president of Academica, said at a public meeting last week. Zulueta said an “enormous” investment is required for the property, estimating it could cost upward of $50 million.
Millie Sanchez, SLAM’s chief administrative officer, told the audience at a public meeting last week that while Academica “services” SLAM, the deed will be in SLAM’s name.
Gusman family: In 1975, entrepreneur and philanthropist Maurice Gusman gifted the theater and its adjoining office building to the city of Miami — under the stipulation that the semi-autonomous Miami Parking Authority manage the property because Gusman didn’t trust city politicians to manage it properly.
The parking authority stepped away from management in 2011, potentially breaking with the terms of Gusman’s covenant. The city’s code compliance division issued a “repair or demolish” order for the Olympia in 2018 following years of neglect during which the building had deteriorated.
That prompted Gusman family heirs to sue the city in 2019 to reclaim ownership of the property, arguing that a reversion clause in the deed had been triggered when the Miami Parking Authority stepped back from managing the building in 2011. That lawsuit is still pending.
Their attorney, Timothy Barket, has argued that the Gusman family needs to sign off on any new deal in order for it to move forward. The Gusman family supports the deal with SLAM.
During a heated public meeting at the Olympia Theater last week, Barket hit back at hecklers in the crowd who argued the city was giving away its building.
“You’re not losing your building, because this was never your building!” Barket told the crowd. “The Gusman family is sick of the city of Miami, and we’re not gonna approve a deal unless they give it to private enterprise.”
“I promise you,” he added, “nobody in this theater cares more about preserving this than my clients, but if we keep kicking this can down the road, it’s a very dangerous game.”
How did the deal come about?
Zulueta, the Academica president, said he was contacted by attorneys for the Gusman family “several months ago” about the proposal.
“They had heard of the work we’d done by creating some of the city’s most successful public charter schools,” Zulueta said, “and they wanted to see whether there was some way we could breathe new life into the Olympia.”
Meanwhile, Mayor Francis Suarez said he received a phone call from “a friend of mine who knows the parties,” who informed him of a proposal forming behind the scenes. From there, Suarez said he introduced the deal to the city.
“I think [it’s] fair to say that I helped connect all the dots,” Suarez told the Herald in a recent interview.
While Academica is a private entity, SLAM is technically a public school. Because of that, the city can move forward with the deal without soliciting bids or getting voter approval via ballot referendum.
Who is in favor of the deal?
The mayor, the city manager, the Gusman family, Academica and SLAM are in support.
The deal entails “zero obligation or liability on the city’s part financially,” City Manager Art Noriega said during a public Zoom meeting last week.
Noriega said the physical deterioration of the building has started to “accelerate.” He explained that the city previously solicited bids for someone to operate and invest in the theater without success and that the level of capital investment required is “significant.”
“We’ve never had access to the kind of resources to make the long-term viability of this theater anything that we can guarantee,” Noriega said. He added that if the city doesn’t move forward with the deal, it might regret it down the road.
“I think that we’d be absolutely crazy to look past this opportunity,” Noriega said.
Zulueta said there are “a lot of folks” willing to criticize the proposal, “but none of them are willing to step up with the amount of money or the track record.”
Who opposes it?
Some community activists have opposed the sale, including concert pianist Orlando Alonso, who has championed an alternative proposal for restoring the Olympia as a center for the arts.
“The Olympia deserves artists and operators worthy of its acoustics, its beauty, its potential,” Alonso said. “But those pushing this deal don’t understand beauty or legacy — when you only understand transactions, you destroy what you can’t monetize.”
Alonso was among the group of demonstrators who attended last week’s city-hosted public meeting at the Olympia, where it was obvious that repairs are needed. The once-vibrant golds of delicate floral and geometric designs have dulled to mustard. The gilded latticework trimming the balconies around the entrance appeared to be crumbling off, and large stretches of colorful plasterwork have worn away to reveal the chalky gray of lath and structural wood.
“The Olympia isn’t just a building — it’s a cultural icon, a historic jewel that belongs to every resident of Miami,” said resident Sandy Moise. “Now the City is proposing to give it away — for $10 — to a politically connected, for-profit charter school company.”
When will it be decided?
The public didn’t become aware of the deal until days before it was slated to be voted on in a City Commission meeting last month. After resident pushback, the city agreed to delay the vote until the July 24 City Commission meeting, which is on Thursday.
The City Commission will vote on whether to authorize the city manager to negotiate and execute the sale with SLAM. The deal requires approval from four out of five city commissioners to move forward.
Noriega said the parties are moving quickly because they hope to have some portion of the property available for use by the start of the school year. Thursday also marks the last City Commission meeting until September, although the commission could always call for a special meeting in August if need be.
Zulueta noted that next year marks the theater’s 100th anniversary — “another reason not to wait.”
Clarification: This story has been updated to more clearly reflect SLAM’s nonprofit status and its relationship with Academica.
This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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