Paid review of building collapse closes Miami court

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This photo shows the October 8, 2020, Miami-Dade District Courthouse in Miami. Officials say Miami-Dade County court will begin making repairs immediately after the review found safety concerns inside the building. A joint statement from several leaders late Friday, July 9, 2021, says the review was prompted by the collapse of an apartment building in Surfside. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

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This photo shows the October 8, 2020, Miami-Dade District Courthouse in Miami. Officials say Miami-Dade County court will begin making repairs immediately after the review found safety concerns inside the building. A joint statement from several leaders late Friday, July 9, 2021, says the review was prompted by the collapse of an apartment building in Surfside. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami (AFP) – Miami-Dade County court will begin making repairs immediately over safety concerns found during an audit prompted by the fatal collapse of a nearby apartment building, officials said.

An engineer report recommended that floors 16 and above in the 28-story courtroom be closed to employees, but all court employees, including those who work in basements, will return to work from home, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniela Levine Cava and other leaders said in a statement. shared on Friday evening.

The announcement for the courthouse, located in Miami, came during the third week of the search for victims of the collapse of the South Champlain Towers building in neighboring Surfside. On Saturday, authorities raised the confirmed death toll to 86 and 43 are still missing.

The court, completed in 1928 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, is where most civil cases are heard and contains some administrative offices. Separate courts for criminal, child and family cases are not affected.

Workers recently returned to the building after working remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Court operations will return to remote coordination until safety concerns are addressed. The court planned to notify people of the upcoming court proceedings of the changes.

“They’ve only been back in that building for a week,” Levin Cava said at a news conference on Saturday. “So they have everything they need to keep working remotely and also in other locations, so that shouldn’t disrupt that significantly.”

Authorities have not released details about the specific types of repairs required, and they still plan to inspect the basement to determine if additional repairs are needed.

Miami-Dade County was still in the early stages of building a new civil courthouse and was planning to sell the existing courthouse, which has suffered from leaks, mold and problems it encounters over the years. It’s unclear how the new findings might affect those plans to sell the building.

The building has undergone a revision following the collapse of the South Champlain Towers building on June 24, as efforts continue to recover the bodies of the missing and presumed dead. These efforts will continue throughout Saturday despite the bad weather, Levin Cava said, although work was halted for about an hour Saturday morning due to a nearby lightning strike. She also said that no asbestos was found while searching the ruins.

“Please pray for those who have lost loved ones and those whose hearts have been broken by this unspeakable tragedy,” she said.

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said the crews are making good progress, particularly in clearing debris from the part of the building that didn’t collapse but was later demolished. He said that this section is likely to be cleared sooner than originally expected.

“It’s an amazing speed at work clearing the rubble from there,” he said.

Several other buildings were reviewed for any structural concerns, and some were evacuated – such as an apartment building in North Miami Beach.

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