James Cox, owner of the Miami News, commissioned in 1925 the construction of the 16-story stucco building and tower, which was to house the newspaper for the next 30 years.

The tower was home to the Miami News until 1955

In the wake of Fidel Castro's regime and the Bay of Pigs situation, the General Services Adminstration opened a service center, providing Cuban refugees with basic supplies and dental and medical care.

Miami's Freedom Tower, a 76-year-old spire of steel and concrete that once heralded Cuban refugees and housed the Miami News & Metropolis, was crumbling and on the brink of collapse before Structural Preservation Systems Inc. restored its walls and foundation, preparing it for another grand use.

The subsidiary of Structural Group, a Baltimore-based national contractor, has spent the past year repairing and replacing nearly every concrete column, wall and ceiling holding up the 16-story, 80,000-square-foot structure, which also is listed on the National Register.

The Freedom Tower Foundation - established by the widow and son of Cuban-American businessman Jorge Mas Canosa, who purchased the building in 1997 to transform it into a monument of the Cuban struggle for freedom - has invested $12 million into its rebirth.

And by May 2002 the tower will feature a museum, library of historical documents and memorabilia, meeting and assembly spaces, offices for nonprofit organizations and preserved relics from the city's first daily newspaper, the Miami News.

A refreshing architectural anomaly among Miami's modern skyscrapers, the tower has been largely unused since the 1970s, when the federal government closed down its Cuban refugee service center there. A foreign investor renovated it in 1987, albeit superficially, but went bankrupt soon after, leaving the building to fall into disrepair.

But this renovation will last, not only due to Structural Preservation's extensive and careful work, but also because the tower will be linked to Miami's Cuban culture and history, experts say.

Symbol of freedom

Recognized as a symbol of Miami's growing importance as a metropolis, the building is an example of Spanish Renaissance revival style. The building's tower and cupola, which shined a beacon of light over Miami Bay, are said to be designed after the Giralda Tower in Seville, Spain.

The lower floors, about 15,000 square feet, featured a Mediterranean-style lobby and mezzanine area decorated with murals portraying the development of the printing press and the journalism profession. The upper levels are smaller, about 1,500 square feet, and served as small office spaces with four-way views of downtown Miami, Key Biscayne and South Miami Beach.

After the Miami News vacated the building in 1955, it was empty for several years. In 1962 the U.S. General Services Administration took it over and, in the wake of Fidel Castro's regime and the Bay of Pigs situation, opened a service center, providing Cuban refugees with basic supplies and dental and medical care.

The refugees' first sighting upon reaching America, the building began to be associated with the hope of freedom. It thus acquired the appropriate name: The Freedom Tower.

During the 1970s, after the federal government vacated the building, it changed ownership twice before an overseas investment group bought it in 1987. It was restored to resemble original drawings and early photos, but six months after its grand opening in 1992 the owners filed for bankruptcy and the Freedom Tower went into another downward slide.

Put up for sale again in 1994, several real estate concerns attempted to redesign the building for office space, but because of its small floor plans, the ventures never worked. The 1987 restoration work gave way to broken windows, homeless people and vandals.

Spiritual and structural revival

But in 1997, Jorge Mas Canosa stepped forward to rescue the building, vowing to restore it as a tribute to the legacy of Cuban Americans. He bought it for $4.1 million and soon unveiled his plans. Although he passed away two months after his purchase, his widow and son have carried on his dream.

By May 2002, the 100th anniversary of Cuban independence, the interior renovations will be complete, said Raul L. Rodriguez, principal of architect firm Rodriguez and Quiroga Architects Chartered, based in Coral Gables, Fla.

It will include a mezzanine-level museum to be patterned after the "living history" model, with exhibits featuring computer-aided effects realistically portraying the experience of pursuing freedom on a boat or raft.

The murals in the lobby - remnants of the Miami News - and Cox's office and library will be preserved.

The third- and fourth-floor library will be available to scholars and historians and the public to study and write about the Cuban Diaspora into Southern Florida. An outdoor terrace will provide space for receptions and offer views of the American Airlines Arena, new home of the Miami Heat, and the future $250 million performing arts center nearby.

The Cuban American National Foundation will occupy offices on the upper floors.

But as the design-build team assembled, it realized that behind the stucco surface was a crumbling concrete foundation in need of extensive restoration. The 1987 restoration, it turns out, was only cosmetic, and did not touch the beams, slabs and columns, Rodriguez said.

That is when the project engineering firm, Miami-based Donnell, Duquesne and Albaisa, selected Structural Preservation to take care of that part of the job.

Testing revealed the concrete contained chlorides, which deteriorated after years of exposure to Miami's salt-water air. The concrete could only support about half of the load that modern-day buildings support. The rusted steal beams cracked the concrete.

Last January the company set to work by chipping away the spalled concrete and sandblasting the rusted steel. In some areas more than 50 percent of the steel had to be replaced.

Nearly all of the 27 ground-floor columns needed to be replaced or repaired, said Rob Sommer, Structural Preservation's project manager. The concrete on many ceiling beams had to be completely replaced.

The large area of overhead repairs required an extreme amount of shoring, or support of the framework. In order to maintain the structural integrity, Structural Preservation had to work in "checkerboard" fashion, doing one area at a time - carefully and slowly.

It is a historical building. A lot of care needs to be taken. We can't just go in there and blow it all out. The biggest challenge has been scheduling [work]," he said.

As the company's 20 workers progressed on the project, they found even more damage, enough to bring the repair work cost to between $2.5 million and $3 million.

We knew there was a lot more. It was in much need of care," Sommer added.

Rodriguez said he was impressed with Structural Preservation as it perfected concrete repair systems "I have seen only them do."

Sentimental structure

Rodriguez, who fled Cuba and arrived with his parents in Miami in September 1959, said the Freedom Tower is more than an aesthetically pleasing structure to him and the Cuban American community.

It is fair to say it is one of the most beloved buildings in Miami, not only for its history but also for its appearance.

Beyond the architecture is the story of the very courageous people," he said. Rodriguez and Quiroga "have done quite a number of restorations, but as far as Miami goes this is the most visible. I also find it particularly important what the use of the building is going to be."

And on May 20, when the building's structural restoration is complete, the beacon will shine onto Miami Bay and additional lighting will illuminate the tower.

That sets something aright for Rodriguez, as the Freedom Tower "takes its proper place in Miami's skyline."