Freedom Tower - Downtown Miami
Freedom Tower was built in the Mediterranean Revival style in 1925, when it housed the offices of the Miami News & Metropolis. It is said that it was inspired by the Giralda Tower in Seville, Spain. The cupola tower contained a beacon light to shine over the Miami Bay, which would have served the practical purpose of acting as a lighthouse while symbolically announcing the enlightenment brought by the Miami News & Metropolis to the rest of the world.
When the newspaper went out of business over 30 years later, the building lay vacant for some time. When the Castro regime came into power and political refugees flooded South Florida looking for a new start, the tower was taken over by the U.S. government to provide services to the immigrants. It contained in-processing services, basic medical and dental services, records on relatives already in the U.S. and relief aid for those starting a new life with nothing. For many thousands of immigrants, the tower provided nothing less than their freedom from Castro and the hardships Cuba had come to give them. It rightly earned its name then of Freedom Tower.
The building to the right of Freedom Tower is Marinablue. It forms part of the Biscayne Wall, a series of skyscrapers visible from Biscayne Bay along the west side of Biscayne Boulevard. It was was one of the first buildings making up the wall to be completed.