Barbara Baer Capitman Statue

Barbara Baer Capitman was a community activist who led the effort to preserve Miami Beach's historic art deco district, and was instrumental in creating the Miami Design Preservation League in 1976. Through candlight vigils, protests, and standing down bulldozers, Capitman and her supporters rallied to save iconic art deco buildings as many were being torn down to house new larger luxury hotels. Thanks to Capitman and her supporters Miami Beach's Art Deco District was placed on the National Register of Historic Place sin 1979, and allowed for a renewed interest and rebirth of the Art Deco movement. The Art Deco District encompassed buildings from 5th to 25th street along Ocean Drive, Collins Ave., and Washington Ave. 

Capitman passed in Miami in 1990, and in 1996 10th street was renamed Barbara Capitman Way. During the Art Deco Weekend in 2016, a memorial featuring a bust of Capitman was unveiled and dedicated to the city, and it now sits in Lummus Park at 13th and Ocean Drive.