Miami Beach paints new pastel picture of city skyline

Globally photographed pastel buildings are to glow again in Miami Beach.

“We are so lucky to have Ms. [Barbara] Hulanicki [fashion designer] as a longtime Miami Beach resident,” Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez told city commissioners last week. “She was pivotal in the Art Deco movement of coming to South Beach and renovating these beautiful hotels and working with Craig Robins and Tony Goldman and all of these real estate developers to really realize the renaissance of South Beach.”

In the early 1980s Leonard Horowitz, a New York designer, “developed a color palette of approximately 40 colors as part of a plan in conjunction with Barbara Capitman to enliven the dated and worn Art Deco façades in Miami Beach,” a memo told commissioners.

Ms. Rosen Gonzalez said Ms. Hulanicki suggested an idea to reinvigorate South Beach. “I said, let’s meet.”

The plan is to begin with public buildings.

“The way that this is working right now is we will be repainting several buildings,” said Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez. “We’re going to start with public buildings and hopefully, we can expand this program after – get a paint sponsor start to offer to paint the private buildings as well. And I think as people see the historic district begin to pop with color, we’re going to get some wonderful positive press.”

In January, the city commission referred a discussion of the use of pastel colors on historic buildings to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee, which recommended “re-painting the Colony Theater and Beach Patrol Headquarters in a color scheme that utilizes the Leonard Horowitz color palette and highlights architectural features, including consulting with Ms. Barbara Hulanicki on the color scheme” and “performing outreach to paint companies for sponsorship of painting additional buildings in the city, utilizing the Horowitz color palette.”

Additionally, the committee recommended a media campaign to promote the color palette and explore “whether the North Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Façade Improvement Program could provide funding for paint projects on eligible buildings in North Beach.”

Pictures were displayed as Ms. Hulanicki explained her idea.

The idea is to keep the building as they are, she said. “You’re not spending huge amounts of money, but just do all the color detail… It would look very lovely slowly but surely. And maybe the people would help you with doing the umbrellas” in front to match the buildings’ colors.

The Colony Theater is to be repainted with Ms. Hulanicki as an advisor, said Ms. Rosen Gonzalez, “and we’re also going to repaint the lifeguard station on 10th Street. These are two iconic buildings.”

Once this is done, Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez said she believes the city will have a better idea of the cost to paint a building and the best paint to use.

“We directed the administration to also reach out to these companies to see if a paint company would like to sponsor this, and we’re going to issue some press releases and we want you [Ms. Hulanicki] to pick the colors of course because you are the iconic designer, and I’m very excited about this item,” Ms. Rosen Gonzalez said. “This is not an item that costs a lot of money, but the impact is going to be tremendous and we need positive impact.”

Durability of the paint was a concern.

“When we first came here, Leonard Horowitz was doing these beautiful colors; very gentle, very pastelie,” said Ms. Hulanicki, “but the paints didn’t last very long in the sun, and I think that’s why that broke away. Maybe we could get a paint company to do something, because it’s very important.”

The memo disclosed the cost.

“Based on estimates provided to the Fleet and Facilities Management Department… the cost to re-paint the Ocean Rescue headquarters and Colony Theater structures in pastel colors is approximately $62,810…”

Commissioner Joseph Magazine suggested expanding the project. “Think of really innovative ways to even further this and maybe there’re sponsorship opportunities outside of even paint companies where it could be a social media campaign with social media influencers that could go viral and we could get funding opportunities.”