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More recently, Miami Dade College has hosted major exhibitions including showcasing the works of masters [[Salvador Dalí|Dali]], [[Goya]] and [[Da Vinci]] since the Martin family donated the tower to the institution. It has plans to expand the offerings at the Tower and install exhibitions honoring the Freedom Tower’s past as the home of a major newspaper and the site where hundreds of thousands of Cuban refugees were processed. The college will also honor the building’s architecture. It recently restored the New World Mural on the mezzanine level of the Tower. Miami Dade College is a national model for its cultural programming.
More recently, Miami Dade College has hosted major exhibitions including showcasing the works of masters [[Salvador Dalí|Dali]], [[Goya]] and [[Da Vinci]] since the Martin family donated the tower to the institution. It has plans to expand the offerings at the Tower and install exhibitions honoring the Freedom Tower’s past as the home of a major newspaper and the site where hundreds of thousands of Cuban refugees were processed. The college will also honor the building’s architecture. It recently restored the New World Mural on the mezzanine level of the Tower. Miami Dade College is a national model for its cultural programming.


==Trivia==
*The Freedom Tower was used as a sniper's post in "Hit List", a season one episode of ''[[Miami Vice]]'', where a hit man attempted to kill Crockett.


==Gallery==
==Gallery==

Revision as of 16:27, 2 November 2010

Freedom Tower
File:Miami freedom tower for wikipedia by tom schaefer miamitom 09-05-2010 1100x-dsc3190.jpg
The Freedom Tower in downtown Miami as of September 2010.
Freedom Tower (Miami) is located in Florida
Freedom Tower (Miami)
LocationMiami, Florida, USA
Built1925[2]
ArchitectGeorge A. Fuller, Schultze & Weaver[2][1]
Architectural styleSpanish Renaissance Revival[2]
NRHP reference No.79000665[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPSeptember 10, 1979
Designated NHLOctober 6, 2008

The Freedom Tower is a historic 1925 landmark building in Miami, Florida, that serves as a memorial to Cuban immigration to the United States. It is located at 600 Biscayne Boulevard on the Wolfson Campus of Miami Dade College. On September 10, 1979, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark on October 6, 2008.[3]

History

Originally completed in 1925 as the headquarters and printing facility of The Miami News newspaper, it is an example of Mediterranean Revival style with design elements borrowed from the Giralda Tower in Seville, Spain. Its cupola on a 255 foot (78 m) tower contained a decorative beacon.

The Miami News vacated the building in 1957 to move to a new state-of-the-art facility on the Miami River. As refugees from Cuba fleeing the Castro communist regime arrived in Miami in the 1960s, the federal government used the facility to process, document and provide medical and dental services for the newcomers. After the major wave of refugees ended in 1972, the government sold the building in 1974. The building passed through several owners before and after being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[4]

In 1997 the building was purchased for US$4.1 million by Jorge Mas Canosa, founder and leader of the Cuban American National Foundation, and restored and converted into a monument for the refugees who fled to the United States from communist Cuba. It housed a museum, library, meeting hall, and the offices of the Cuban American National Foundation.

In 2004, the Freedom Tower was purchased by developer Pedro Martin and his company, Terra Group, who proposed a new building (possibly condominiums) on an adjacent part of the property. Preservationists opposed the plan, and in 2005 the developers donated Freedom Tower to Miami Dade College, which is using it as a cultural and educational center. The city later granted approval to the developers to build on the back of the property without demolishing the original tower.

More recently, Miami Dade College has hosted major exhibitions including showcasing the works of masters Dali, Goya and Da Vinci since the Martin family donated the tower to the institution. It has plans to expand the offerings at the Tower and install exhibitions honoring the Freedom Tower’s past as the home of a major newspaper and the site where hundreds of thousands of Cuban refugees were processed. The college will also honor the building’s architecture. It recently restored the New World Mural on the mezzanine level of the Tower. Miami Dade College is a national model for its cultural programming.


References

  1. ^ a b "National Register of Historical Places - Florida (FL), Miami-Dade County". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-06-24.
  2. ^ a b c "Freedom Tower". Florida Heritage Tourism Interactive Catalog. Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs. 2007-06-24.
  3. ^ "Weekly List Of Actions Taken On Properties: 10/6/08 through 10/10/08". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-10-17.
  4. ^ "National Historic Landmark Nomination: Freedom Tower" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-10-08.
Records
Preceded by Tallest Building in Miami
1925—1928
78m 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Tallest Building in Florida
1925—1926
78m 		Succeeded by
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