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LYRIC THEATER HISTORY The 400-seat Lyric Theater was built in 1913 and quickly became a major entertainment center for blacks in Miami. The theater anchored the district know as “Little Broadway,” an area alive with hotels, restaurants and nightclubs frequented by black and white tourists and residents. The Black Archives, History and Research Foundation of South Florida, Inc. acquired the Lyric Theater in 1988. By 1989, the Theater, the lone surviving building in “Little Broadway,” was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and Phase 1 of restoration of the former showplace began. In 2000, after extensive rehabilitation, the newly restored Lyric Theater opened once again to audiences. In 2004, Phase 2 of reconstruction was completed, with the construction of a new lobby, box office, concession area and offices for the theater. Phase 3, the expansion of the Lyric Theater, included a studio theater/meeting space, additional wing space and a fly loft for the stage itself, a catering kitchen, a loading dock, a scene shop, archival administration offices, exhibition space, and other backstage operational areas. Upon the completion of this phase, the Black Archives moved its operations to the fully-operational facility and officially reopened to the public in February 2014. Renamed the Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater Cultural Arts Complex, it is now the oldest legitimate theater in Miami. Adjacent to the central downtown business district of Miami, it is an anchor site of the Historic Overtown Folklife Village. Just as in Overtown’s glory days during the early part of the 20th century, the Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater is poised to once again become, in the 21st century, a symbol of black economic influence, as well as a social gathering place – free of discrimination – and a source of pride and culture within Overtown.
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