Timeline: Important milestones for the Miami Dade County Courthouse
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Significant dates in the history of the Dade County Courthouse.
1925: The Dade County Commission announces plans to build the $4.2 million courthouse on Flagler Street. Construction begins that year.
1926: The old two-story Dade County Courthouse, which stood in the middle of the construction, is demolished as court business moves to other buildings.
1928: The 28-story Dade County Courthouse opens as the tallest building south of Baltimore. It houses city and county government buildings, commission chambers and jails.
1930: Infamous gangster Al Capone, then living in Miami Beach, is acquitted of perjury in a trial at the Dade County Courthouse.
Early 1950s: The City of Miami moves out of the Dade County Courthouse. Miami City Hall moves to its current location on Dinner Key.
1961: A criminal justice complex opens several miles west of the Dade County Courthouse. Criminal cases are moved to the Metro Justice Center, now named the Richard E. Gerstein Building. The Dade County Jail also opens. The former jail cells in the courthouse tower are eventually turned into courtrooms.
1963: With the opening of other high-rise towers in downtown Miami, the Dade County Courthouse is finally eclipsed as the tallest building in Dade County.
1985: The government of Miami-Dade County moves its offices to the Stephen P. Clark Center. The city of Miami designates the courthouse a historic site.
1989: The Dade County Courthouse is added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
1995: Miami-Dade County receives a grant to restore original lobby atrium.
2008: Renovations are completed for the historic sixth-floor courtroom. The $650,000 project restores courtroom 6-1 to its original grandeur.
2019: Miami-Dade County commissioners approve the contract for a new civil courthouse, and to sell the historic building “for a new modern use.”
July 2021: Less than a month after the collapse of a condominium in Surfside, the building is ordered closed after a county-ordered review of older buildings. It’s unclear when and if it will reopen as a courthouse.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 6:00 AM.