He donated Olympia Theater to Miami decades ago. Now his family wants it back.

On New Year’s Eve, the heirs of late philanthropist Maurice Gusman will face off in court against the city of Miami. At stake: the future of the historic Olympia Theater on Flagler Street.

Gusman donated the theater to the city in 1975, when it became the Olympia Center at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts. But now, a dissolved nonprofit controlled by his grandchildren is suing the city to take back control of the theater, saying city officials have squandered it and violated the terms of their agreement with Gusman.

Specifically, the lawsuit says Gusman’s deed with the city required that the Miami Parking Authority manage the property, which was built in 1926. When the parking authority gave up management of the theater in 2011, the complaint says, the city violated the deed and thereby gave up its right to maintain ownership.

An attorney for the family, Tim Barket, told the Miami Herald the 1975 deal stemmed from Gusman’s distrust of politicians. Gusman agreed to give the property to the city only because the parking authority was an independent entity that wasn’t controlled by the city, he said.

Barket said that about a year ago, Gusman’s grandson Bruce Gusman was walking downtown and saw an order posted on the theater by city code enforcement to repair or demolish the building. That was the “last straw” for the family, Barket said.

The family’s vision, Barket said, is to restore and maintain the theater, which is one of the oldest in Miami and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Today it hosts local community theater productions, stand-up comedy and various musical performances.

The inside of the theater is extravagant — the hall is lined with ornate wool carpet and the ceiling is decorated with octagonal coffers. But on the outside, brick is crumbling from the theater’s facade and a section of wire mesh holds corner molding in place.

One expert, architect Richard Heisenbottle, has estimated that renovations to the theater would likely cost $20 million.

“It was a tremendous gift at the time to the city,” Barket said. “The theater was renovated, the city did not maintain it. The family is obviously interested in maintaining the legacy of Maurice Gusman.”

In a motion to dismiss filed Dec. 17, the city of Miami argued that the nonprofit, Maurice Gusman Center for the Performing Arts Inc., has no standing to claim the theater as an asset decades after the nonprofit was dissolved.

“This is not a case in which a dissolved corporation seeks to ‘wind up’ its affairs and gather its assets,” the city’s motion says. “Rather, it is an action brought 43 years after the corporate dissolution.”

The city also said the family’s claim for a breach of the deed in 2011 is barred by a seven-year statute of limitations for real property lawsuits.

On Tuesday at 9 a.m., a Miami-Dade circuit judge will hear arguments on the motion to dismiss. Barket said he will ask the city to back off its motion and instead file an answer to the complaint.

Ideally, Barket said, the two sides can reach a settlement out of court. He noted that the city’s recent unsuccessful efforts to turn over management of the theater to Miami Dade College suggest the city wants a new steward for the property.

“If the city was willing to give the theater away to Miami Dade College, why would they not be willing to give it back to the organization that donated it to the city?” he said.

The family filed the lawsuit on Nov. 14. The details of the case were first reported by The Real Deal this week.

Attorneys for the city did not respond to a request for comment Friday. A spokesman for Mayor Francis Suarez declined to comment.

In his State of the City address in January, Suarez named the renovation of the theater as one of his priorities for the year.

Various proposals for the site have fallen through since 2017. That year, in October, the affordable housing arm of Miami developer Related Group withdrew its pitch to restore the theater and redevelop dozens of apartment units above it.

This past July, city commissioners unanimously rejected a different, unsolicited proposal to renovate the theater and turn its residential tower into a boutique hotel. City officials said they instead wanted to pursue talks with Miami Dade College, which manages other historic buildings.

But that idea fizzled, too. The college pulled out of negotiations in September, saying in a statement that “the financial figures did not work for the college.”

Barket said the Gusman family isn’t seeking any money from the city in its lawsuit.