Longtime director of Miami Beach Convention Center Norman Litz dies at 89
As a kid, Steve Litz could rattle off facts about the Miami Beach Convention Center as if he were the facility’s director. Of course he wasn’t, but his father, Norman Litz, was.
Norman Litz, the longtime director of the convention center and a community leader, died at 89 of lung cancer on Tuesday, his sone’s 54th birthday.
“Miami Beach was really lucky to have a guy like Norm Litz,” Steve Litz said about his dad.
During his 22-year stint as director, Litz guided the convention center through a lot. He saw it through three names — first the Miami Beach Exhibition Hall, then, for a short time, the Stephen Muss Convention Center before the current name was adopted. He was there for the Republican Party’s national convention in 1968, as well as both the Republican and Democratic national conventions in 1972.
He was also a driving force behind the convention center’s $92 million expansion in the late ‘80s, which nearly doubled the location’s square footage. Before the expansion, the Miami Beach Convention Center ranked 32nd out of 33 centers across the country. But, Litz believed with hard work, the convention center could become a beacon for the city.
“It will be a gem of the community,” Litz said in a 1988 Herald article about the convention center’s renovation.
Daughter Ronni Litz Merkin, 57, said the job was all-consuming for her father. He often worked late nights and weekends to accommodate special events. But she said she remembers him being completely tuned in to his children the moments he was there. She also remembers the perks of her dad running the convention center: As kids, they were always attending Broadway shows, circus events, flea markets or whatever else was in town that week.
“Steve and I pretty much basked in all these events,” Merkin said. “That was important to them, that we went to these things.”
He was sent to Los Alamos, New Mexico, for two years. He worked in the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, and was then sent on temporary duty to the Marshall Islands and the Mercury Proving Grounds where he was involved with testing of the H-bomb. Merkin said he’s always spoken very proudly of his service to our country.
Back in Miami, he married his wife of 58 years, Sheila Litz. They moved to Miami Beach in 1972 — the year the Miami Dolphins went undefeated.. Litz was a Dolphins season ticket holder, and his children said they remember never missing a game.
Litz started as city auditor in Miami Beach before becoming director of the convention center in 1971. He first retired from his role in 1993 following a heart attack. After a short “retirement,” Litz became the Lincoln Theatre — New World Symphony Facilities Director, serving from 1994 through 2008.
Merkin said he was respected and loved by everyone he worked with, especially during his time with the New World Symphony. The service for Litz on Friday was hosted on Zoom with more than 70 people attending from around the world, Merkin said.
“I feel like I hit the father lottery,” Merkin said.
Following the convention center’s renovation, Litz was part of the team that pushed for adding convention hotels nearby to accommodate visitors — a debate that’s still going on today. He wanted to see the convention center reach its full potential.
“This facility right here,” Litz said in a 1989 Miami Herald article, “will make the city one of the most successful convention cities in the United States.”
His son said he thinks his dad was an integral part in making that happen.
“He was pivotal in making this place a hot spot for conventions,” he said.
Litz is survived by his wife of 58 years, Sheila, his two children, and grandchildren Jamie and Jordan Julien and Seth Litz.
