I got a big, miscellaneous assortment of old Florida postcards today. This was one of them -- the Americana Hotel in Bal Harbour.
The Americana was designed by Morris Lapidus in 1956. Lapidus' work was showy, and intentionally for popular appeal. Critics scoffed, but since he lived to be 98 years old, I suppose he got the last laugh.
The Americana, now the Sheraton Bal Harbour, was included on the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation's 2005 list of the 11 most endangered historic places in Florida. For a couple of years now, the hotel has been scheduled to be demolished, to make way for a new condominium project. A review by the Miami Design Preservation League found that little of the original design remained. Although the League decided not to oppose demolition, the hotel is still open.
I stayed there for 2 nights in 1975, when it was the Americana. I remember the glass elevator, and everything was done up in red, white and blue for the Bi-centennial.My son was 3 months old at the time.
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