U.S. Coast Guard Station Hanger

Built in 1932, this seaplane hangar was part of the first permanent United States Coast Guard Air Station in the country and served as a crucial center for Coast Guard aviation in Florida. Planes from Dinner Key carried out rescue and evacuation missions alongside planes from other Coast Guard air stations in the Florida Keys after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. During World War II, aviators provided anti-submarine patrol and convoy support and conducted rescue missions for sailors from merchant ships targeted by the Nazi Kriegsmarine. After the war, the Dinner Key Coast Guard remained active in the community and played an important part in search-and-rescue missions during the mass Cuban immigration rescue in the 1960s. By 1965, when air station operations moved from Dinner Key to Opa-locka Airport, the station had become the busiest air-sea rescue facility in the world. The hangar, the oldest building associated with the air station, was purchased by the City of Miami in 1972 for use as a gymnasium. Named for local activist Elizabeth Virrick, it first hosted a boxing program for young men and later was used for sailing and other water sports. After severe damage from Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the building was restored with help from a grant from the Florida Division of Historical Resources, and the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Hangar/Virrick Gym was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Miami, Florida · United States