The Hampton House Historic Trust will join with Miami-Dade officials at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 9, at the restoration site (4200 N.W. 27th Avenue) to present the architectural renderings for the project which will restore the building for future use as a community center.

At its height of popularity, the Hampton House hosted well-known entertainers, including Sammy Davis Jr and Count Basie, along with national figures, most notably Rev. Martin Luther King Jr and a young boxer named Cassius Clay who became world champ, Muhammad Ali.

“The Hampton House is part of the heritage of this community,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Audrey M. Edmonson, who remembers the motel as a young girl and has recently led the effort to get the project underway.  “For many years, it served as a focal point for entertainers and others in the Black community and should be preserved.”

The Historic Hampton House Trust is overseeing renovations which include stabilizing the deteriorating building that has been largely neglected since it closed in 1976 when integration gave Blacks more options for entertainment venues and places to stay when visiting South Florida.

“The Hampton House will have a new lease on life as a cultural and educational destination in our city,” says Dr. Enid Pinkney, CEO of the trust, who has led the effort for nearly a decade to save the structure, located at the corner of Northwest 42nd and 27th Avenue.  Dr. Pinkney expects that the renovated building will help re-vitalize the Brownsville area and neighborhoods nearby while providing young people a glimpse of what life was like in the 1950s and 1960s for South Florida’s African-American residents.

“There was tremendous sense of community,” Dr. Pinkney said.  “It was a shame that integration took some of that away.”

Plans for future use of the building include:

A Cultural Center on African American History in Miami with exhibit space and archives.
A Center for music education with classrooms and rehearsal spaces.
A multi-purpose room and banquet hall for social functions, lectures and movies.

The architectural firm designing the restoration is Gurri Matute, P.A. and the architect of record is Daphne I. Gurri, AIA, LEED AP.  Renovations are scheduled to be completed in 2012.

The Hampton House is one of more than a dozen historic preservation projects funded by the County’s bond program. Other historic buildings now undergoing restoration include: the Lyric Theater in Overtown, the Richmond Naval Air Station, where building #25 will be turned into a military museum; the Curtiss Mansion, in Miami Springs, which was the former home of aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss; and the Flagler Monument, a 100 foot obelisk located in Biscayne Bay. Projects that have recently been completed include the First Miami High School, a wood frame building built in 1905 and now located in Southside Park; and the original entrance to the famous roadside attraction Parrot Jungle, on Red Road in the Village of Pinecrest.

“Historic preservation is one of the ways the Building Better Communities Program is investing in the quality of life in our County,” said County Manager George M. Burgess.  “Bond dollars will preserve the historic structures, such as the Hampton House, for residents now and for generations to come.”

The $2.9 billion bond program is a 20-year capital building program approved by voters in 2004 that includes neighborhood improvements projects, large and small, throughout Miami-Dade.  Work is currently ongoing at hundreds of sites throughout the County.

“The Hampton House, because of its location, when completed will provide a stunning gateway into the Brownsville community,” said Dr. Larry Capp, Executive Director of Miami-Dade County Community Advocacy Agency.  “It is a signature structure that is highly visible and will become an important landmark in the area and catalyst for future development.

Dr. Capp, who is a member of the Historic Trust, said the organization is working with the County’s Office of Community and Economic Development to expedite the completion of renovations as soon as possible.

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