Historic Miami Beach Ocean Rescue Headquarters Gets Paint Refresh

Miami Beach, FL – The City of Miami Beach’s historic Ocean Rescue Headquarters building has gotten a paint refresh with hues of lavender and blue inspired by the color palette developed for the city’s Art Deco District by the late Leonard Horowitz. The work was carried out under the supervision of noted British designer Barbara Hulanicki.

With its porthole windows and prominent nautical-themed overhang, the Ocean Rescue building was the first to participate in the city’s newly launched Art Deco Painting Incentive Program, which provides incentives for property owners and tenants to refresh historic art deco properties with the pastel color palette developed by Horowitz, a furniture designer from New York who created window displays for Bloomingdale’s and studied architecture. Located at 1001 Ocean Drive in the heart of the city’s Art Deco District, the Ocean Rescue building had previously been white.

“This isn’t just preservation—it’s legacy,” said Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner. “Art Deco architecture is one of the jewels of Miami Beach, and protecting it means defending the identity that sets us apart from other cities in the world."

With more than 800 designated contributing buildings, the city’s Art Deco District represents the largest concentration of art deco buildings in the United States and one of the largest in the world. April marked the 100^th anniversary of the start of the 1925 International Exposition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris where art deco was introduced to the world.

The Art Deco Painting Incentive Program provides matching grants to property owners who want to help iconic art deco buildings to the next level.

“Working with Barbara Hulanicki has been the experience of a lifetime,” shared Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who sponsored the incentive that covers up to 50% of eligible project costs with a maximum of $20,000 per property.

“This purple lifeguard headquarters is the first in a series of buildings that will be transformed through Barbara’s visionary touch,” added Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez. “If this vibrant station is any indication, the Art Deco buildings of Miami Beach are about to truly pop. We are showing the world that Miami Beach not only preserves its Art Deco heritage — we celebrate it with pride and color!

The Art Deco District is generally located between 6 Street in South Beach through 23 Street between Lenox Avenue and the ocean.

“I love Leonard. He's such a hero of mine,” said Hulanicki of Horowitz. “He's left a huge mood here. It's very gentle with huge love for the period.”

With an inaugural budget allocation of $88,000, the painting program is expected to fund at least four projects in its first year. For more information on the program, visit mbbiz.com.

###

To request this material in alternate format, sign language interpreter (five-day notice required), information on access for persons with disabilities, and/or any accommodation to review any document or participate in any city-sponsored proceedings, call 305.604.2ADA (2232) and select 1 for English or 2 for Spanish, then option 6; TTY users may call via 711 (Florida Relay Service).