Review By Stephen Placido, ASTC

Les Standiford’s expertise and experience of breathing life into historical novels by revealing the dramatic human essence of the story is on display in Center of Dreams: Building A World Class Performing Arts Complex in Miami (University Press of Florida, 2018). This is the story of The Adrienne Arsht Centre for the Performing Arts. The book illustrates the decades long struggle to build what many felt was an impossible performing arts complex in Miami. At the center of the story is Mr. Parker Thompson with his selfless human spirit and drive to overcome the conflicting obstacles of political, private and market conditions.

Mr. Standiford is uniquely qualified to tell this important story having also written Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad That Crossed an Ocean and Water to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles. Standiford can convey factual historic information, that in the hands of a less adroit writer would be dull, into a dramatic story that effortlessly furnishes the required historical background while building a dramatic tale into which the reader is drawn.

Resisting the urge to criticize naysayers, political adversaries, design challenges, and financial incompetence’s, he traces the roots of this magnificent performing arts center back to 1972 when Miami was in the throes of the Cocaine Cowboys, super-fast cigarette boats on Biscayne Bay, and revived “Miami Vice” art deco style, to the selection process that led to architect Cesar Pelli, the challenges and obstacles that continually plagued the project, and through current day Miami as a world class city that hosts Art Basel and the Ultra music festival.

The most compelling aspects of this book are: The continual drama brought about by the constant obstacles, the passion of the few visionaries that stayed committed to the process for many years without personal gain, the challenges that the design and construction team had to overcome to succeed, and the illustration of the power of the human spirit when committed to a noble quest.

Readers of this book will learn about the political/private process, history, and the design intricacies of the Center but in the end will be swept away by the more compelling aspects of the intriguing historical account of the building of the world-class performing arts complex in Miami.

Les Standiford deftly manages to create a captivating page turner rich in history and nonfiction. As Michael Blachly, formerly senior advisor of the Arts Consulting Group says, Center of Dreams “navigates the political and practical realities of priorities among architects, acousticians, theatre consultants, fundraising specialists, and local producers. Reads like a well-crafted mystery with several twists and turns built into the plot.“ Les Standiford has written an engaging and inspiring tale for all readers.

Amazon link: http://a.co/d/cW4U9ee