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Front Page » Top Stories » Freedom Tower heads to $25 million renovation

Freedom Tower heads to $25 million renovation

Written by on July 19, 2022
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Freedom Tower heads to $25 million renovation

Miami Dade College’s $25 million state-funded renovation of its historic Freedom Tower will focus on urgent structural repair and is in design development with engineers and architects, said President Madeline Pumariega. The focus is on repairing pipes, improving water and sewer infrastructure and outside restoration.

The building at 600 Biscayne Blvd. was home to Miami’s first newspaper, the Miami Daily News. When the 289-foot-tower opened in 1925, ships used it to navigate. But over the years, the Freedom Tower has had wear and tear.

“It is not necessarily going to be a Freedom Tower beautification project. It’s still going to be very much the way you see it today from the outside and as you walk in,” said Ms. Pumariega. “The $25 million is ensuring that we perform all those structural repairs that are impacting the building. The public won’t notice changes.”

“What has to happen, a lot of the infrastructure stuff of the tower has to be reinforced,” said Ms. Pumariega. “This is because you get water intrusion. So that means you have to address water issues, and what happens when water intrudes is corrosion. So you have to come in and reinforce the concrete and columns that hold the tower up. Where there’s any rebar, you come in and reinforce all those areas.”

Work is on schedule, she said.

Once the Freedom Tower reopens, its most famous exhibits will be there, such as the first floor Kislak Collection of rare historical books, manuscripts, maps and Pre-Columbian artifacts that provide insight into the civilizations that shaped the Americas. The Cuban exile story and Cuban Legacy gallery will reopen as well. The Cuban Legacy gallery shows the Cuban exile influence on the culture in Miami and the Cuban Exile Story has lectures and displays on exile experiences.

“Really, it is not just for the Cuban exile community,” Ms. Pumariega said, “but so many that see the Freedom Tower as a beacon of hope, those exhibits will be back too.”

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