Coconut Grove Convention Center

The Coconut Grove Convention Center (also known as the Coconut Grove Expo Center), formerly the Dinner Key Auditorium, was an indoor arena in Miami, Florida. It originally had been built as a hangar at International Pan American Airport in Dinner Key. It is famous for being where Jim Morrison of The Doors was arrested for exposing himself in 1969.[1] It hosted some games of the ABA's The Floridians from 1968-1972. The arena held 6,900 people.

History

One of Pan Am's hangars was used for many years as an exhibition hall and auditorium, the Dinner Key Auditorium. It was recently renamed the Coconut Grove Convention Center. This was the site of the March 1, 1969 incident in which Jim Morrison of The Doors was arrested for allegedly exposing himself to the audience.[2]

The Miami Floridians of the American Basketball Association played some of their home games at the auditorium in the 1969-70 season. The team finished with a 23-61 record.[3][4]

More recently Burn Notice, a USA Network television action drama series, has used the Convention Center for production of the show for six seasons. USA Network has agreed to use the convention center for the production of a seventh season of Burn Notice which will air starting in summer 2013. The show will increase its rent from $240,000 to $450,000 a year, just enough to cover the city’s demolition costs, plus taxes, a studio spokeswoman confirmed. As of late, longtime Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff expressed a desire to raze the Coconut Grove Convention Center and build a bay-front park, noting a $1.8 million city cache in grant dollars for the project.[5]

Demolition of the Coconut Grove Convention Center commenced on Tuesday, November 5, 2013. It is expected to take 30 days for the site to be completely razed and cleared.

References

  1. ↑ Farley, Robert. "Mary Werbelow, Jim Morrison and the Doors", St. Petersburg Times, 2005-09-25. Retrieved on 2006-06-18.
  2. ↑ Mary Werbelow, Jim Morrison and the Doors - URL retrieved June 18, 2006
  3. ↑ Tays, Alan (December 11, 2005). "For Today, ABA's Floridians More than a Memory". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  4. ↑ http://www.remembertheaba.com/Floridians.html
  5. ↑ McGRORY, KATHLEEN (10 August 2012). "Burn Notice; We'll Write the Scripts, Thanks". The Miami Herald. Retrieved 27 December 2012.

Coordinates: 25°43′42″N 80°14′11″W / 25.728391°N 80.236465°W / 25.728391; -80.236465


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