Bill in legislature would send $25 million to restore Freedom Tower

Following up on a proposal by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Rep. Bryan Avila of Miami Springs, has requested $25 million in the next state budget to restore the Freedom Tower at 600 Biscayne Blvd., a signature building by noted architects that opened as home to the Miami Daily News in 1925.

Lawmakers are to consider the budget request during the legislative session that will start in January.

“This funding will be used to correct critical life safety issues, improve several building systems and equipment, ensure compliance with building codes and with Americans with Disabilities Act, and improve water and sewer infrastructure,” the request said.

Gov. DeSantis went to the tower Nov. 15 to pitch restoration work for the building, which was used to process Cuban refugees and is now an art museum and offices of Miami Dade College.

“You had people flee the (Cuban) communist revolution, starting in the late 1950s, hundreds of thousands of people came right through here, the Freedom Tower in Miami, to be able to have a chance at freedom,” Gov. DeSantis said. “That’s something that we need to make sure that we commemorate and that we make sure we carry on the legacy of everybody who sought a better life here.”

The 17-story tower reminiscent of Seville, Spain, though designed by New York firm Schultze and Weaver has gone through several phases. After the Miami News moved out in 1957 to a new production plant on the Miami River the building stood empty until the federal government took over the first four stories to process Cuban refugees from 1962 to 1974.

After that the building stood abandoned, occupied by the homeless and pigeons and stripped of fixtures. It was then restored in part by an investor who in 2005 flipped it to another owner, developer Pedro Martin. He donated it to the college, which has done work on the building. It now is a National Historic Landmark.