In The News
Heritage Trail celebrates city of Opa-locka and its architectural gems
The Miami Herald (via ArtBurst Miami)
By Carmen F de Terenzio, Artbust Miami
October 28, 2025
It’s not every day that a city reintroduces itself, not through fanfare, but through attention. In Opa-locka, a place whose fantastical origin story has long overshadowed its tangible historic sites, 15 stops across its historic core is transforming the way the city is seen and felt.
The Heritage Trail reframes a place once imagined in minarets and myth, now made newly legible through restoration, storytelling, and design. Walking the trail reveals not only the whimsy of its architecture, but something more urgent: the sense that preserving beauty can spark belonging, and that beauty, in Opa-locka, might just be a beginning.
Historic city hall restoration sparks revival in Opa-locka
The Miami Times
By Amelia Orjuela Da Silva, The Miami Times Contributor
August 20, 2024
The restoration of Opa-locka's Company Administration Building, once used as a city hall, is nearing its completion.
The building, whose Arabian-style minarets and pink domes symbolize Opa-locka, is expected to be finished by mid-fall. For the first time since 1940, when the city took ownership from the Opa-Locka company, the historic site will operate as a cultural and community center, representing the city's heartbeat as it was always intended to.
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The New Tropic
A special shoutout to Opa-locka’s Curtiss the husky in Miami’s The New Tropic weekly newsletter.
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Miami Design Preservation League
A feature article telling the resurgence of Opa-locka’s preservation campaign.
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Dade Heritage Trust Preservation Magazine
The Dade Heritage Trust’s annual preservation magazine featured an article from Alex Van Mecl and Darwin Betancourth, detailing their experience restoring and researching their historic Opa-locka residence.
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![Harper's Bazaar Vietnam in Opa-locka]()
Harper's Bazaar Vietnam in Opa-locka
In October 2023, Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam set the stage at one of Opa-locka’s prized historic homes with Miss Universe Kosovo 2020 delivering beauty and glamour. Learn more at Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam.
