Historic Building In Miami Evacuated Due To Structural Instability

Miami Towers residents and shop owners in historic downtown Miami have less than 24 hours to evacuate their building after it was found structurally unsound Wednesday morning.

A report from city inspectors shows the 107-year-old building is structurally unsound due to damage to the pillars holding it up. This report comes after a meeting was held last month to determine if the building was safe.

Miami Emergency Management Director Thomas Anderson says the building has needed various repairs for a long time but now the damage is extreme and it’s too dangerous to be inside. He said the plan is to renovate the building, not tear it down.

A maintenance worker at the building told News On 6 there are currently about 40 people living in the seven-story building plus a dozen or so tenants with businesses in the mini-mall on the ground floor. All of them have to leave by noon Thursday.

After the city gave the Miami Towers building tenants a 24 hour vacate notice today, those who live and work in this building say they are more than frustrated.

“We don’t have much time to even scramble to get a storage building, where do we go so quickly, but we will get packed up and be out of here by noon tomorrow,” Glen Wiford, Owner of Serendipity on Route 66 said.

Anderson says they jumped into action after receiving the report earlier today.

“We just found out at nine o’clock this morning that it was extreme circumstances on the building and because of the extreme nature of the damage of the building we didn’t feel like they had that much time. We want to make people as safe as possible,” Anderson said.

Risa Harvell has lived in the Towers for ten years and said moving from her home is not only difficult but heartbreaking.

“I have to move myself, I have no family members I can stay with, I don’t know where I’m going to go,” Harvell said.

She said with such short notice, she has not found a new place to live and has no idea where she will be putting her head to go to sleep tomorrow night.

The Miami Housing Authority says anyone who needs resources with funding a new place or moving should contact them at 918-542-6691 for help.