MIAMI — Miami-Dade County’s troubled civil courthouse was closed Friday after concerns surfaced from a structural and safety inspection commissioned in the wake of the Surfside condominium collapse.
A Friday court filing described the 1928 courthouse as “temporarily evacuated” and an administrative notice said the closure followed a recent inspection. After the report was delivered Friday, a closure order was issued for floors 16 and above.
The reason for the closure was not stated in the note, and a court spokesperson was not available for comment.
The notice from Chief Judge Nushin Sayfie stated: “In an abundance of caution, we are going to evacuate all personnel.”
“I know this is surprising and unsettling,” Sayfie wrote to court staff. “I promise you will get information as soon as we have it.”
Harvey Ruvin, the county’s elected court clerk, said he was in his office in the courthouse Friday. He got news of the emergency closure shortly after 5 p.m. and said that his staff was preparing to shift operations out of the building. “There is a plan in place,” he said.
Ruvin said he had a call with Sayfie, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and the head of the county’s property arm, Alex Munoz, shortly before 9 p.m. He said the engineering report that prompted the closure came from the county, and that Sayfie decided to clear out the building until more information is available.
“I think she made the right decision,” he said.
The clerks staff only returned to in-person work at the courthouse on July 1, after more than a year working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ruvin said the plan is to revert back to the remote operation. “We are going back to where we were,” he said.
The safety of the courthouse, which once housed a trial for Al Capone, has been a complaint from judges and lawyers for years. Miami-Dade is in the process of building a replacement, with plans to sell the historic structure. County administrators have consistently declared the building safe after spot repairs to deal with exterior facades, leaks, moldy courtrooms and other issues.
