Globe Miami Times Connecting you to the Pulse of Globe Miami
Originally published in the Fall of 2006.
The old Globe Café at the corner of Broad and Bailey has been undergoing renovations since 2005, when fate and investor/owner James Dowly stepped in to rescue the building from becoming another casualty of neglect. At the time, anyone looking at the building might have been forgiven for thinking it was too far gone. A large crack running through the back of the building was only the most visible sign which suggested the whole building was just one good shake away from crumbling. The year was 2005, and after years of accumulated back taxes and deterioration, the City was considering taking over the property for back taxes and taking a sledge hammer to it due to the liability it presented in its current condition.
That is when Kip Culver, Globe’s Mainstreet Director stepped in and argued the case for saving the building first to a local investor, and then to the City. A deal was struck and the building was saved. The local investor, Tommy Thompson was the one who tore off the back of the building and rebuilt the back wall brick-by-brick. He then sold it to James Dowly a year later. It is Dowly and his friend, Jim Ohl, a contractor who has worked off and on with James for nearly 25 years who took on the full renovation of the old building.
Since then, the building has been gutted from top to bottom and everything replaced including; the electrical, plumbing, interior walls, ceilings, doors, windows…and roof. The bricks have been re-pointed, and a tiled outdoor patio
Installed in the recessed entry way. A professional was brought in to ‘refresh” the old Max Latin cigar sign on the side of the building, being careful to match the original patina and colors so the sign would not look “new”, but simply fresh.
The history of the building goes back to the early 1900’s when it was originally built as a bar. Later in the mid-1900’s it housed Max Latin’s Men’s store and finally it was sold to the Globe Café which served the community for another 45 years before closing. Purchased by an investor over in Europe, it sat empty for years before coming under the scrutiny of the City and its close brush with an ignoble end.
Today, it is on the verge of a new life as a historic building with modern bones.
The upstairs contains three small studio apartments. While the wood floors came out of a salvage project involving a 1905 apartment building, the appliances and the hot water heaters are all state of the art- 2008 models. The glass is double pane for insulation and the apartments have central heating and cooling. Not bad upgrades for an old building! The main floor is being prepped for a commercial tenant and the sound of public chatter may once again grace the interiors as plans for a new coffee/sandwich shop get underway.
“Owning old buildings is a huge responsibility,” Dowly explains. “These are not collectibles…not like blown glass or butterflies stuck on a board…The impact of these structures on a community is critical. When you buy a building that looks well and people are using it – there is something healthy about that. But the reverse is also true, as he points out, “…when you walk by a building that has graffiti, broken windows, crumbling facade. You don’t feel very good. “
When asked if he was considering any other projects in the area, Dowley referred back to the responsibility which comes with each and every project.
It has taken him nearly three years and close to $300,000 to bring this project full circle. As he reminds me, “having just one (building)…and doing it well,” says Dowley, “that’s important to me.”
The Globe Café is testament to what good stewardship can mean for a building, a historic district and a community.
Review Overview
Writer, photographer. Passionate foodie, lover of good books and storytelling. Lives in Globe. Plays in the historic district. Travels when possible.
The ignoble end which is referenced here is demolition. The City was going to tear it down – because the back of it presented a public hazard, as the crack spread- and it was Kip Culver, who worked behind the scenes to find buyer who would invest in the building: repairing the crack and restoring it to active use in our historic downtown. That person was James Dowly. Without this, that corner which had stood so proudly for 100 years – would be a concrete slab. That is why preservation is such a critical element in a unique downtown like ours.