MIAMI — Through rain and unrelenting sunshine, the makeshift memorial for victims of the Surfside condo collapse hung defiantly along the fence of a tennis center on Harding Avenue for more than two months.
It took one day for workers to take it apart.
In an effort to preserve the countless photos, letters, stuffed animals and other mementos left at the memorial — and prevent further weather damage amid hurricane season — the town of Surfside and Miami-Dade County brought in a HistoryMiami Museum team on Monday morning to remove the tokens of remembrance at the memorial for safe storage.
“The decision was made to preserve and safeguard as much of the wall as possible to protect the cherished mementos, messages and belongings from the threat of storms, rain and heat, especially as hurricane season ramps up in the late summer months,” said Surfside spokeswoman Malarie Dauginikas.
A seven-person team from the museum’s collections department cleared the memorial by 5 p.m. on Monday, packing the items into 24 large bins that were loaded onto a rental truck along with dozens of white-and-blue markers that lined the memorial honoring the victims of the collapse. Rain damage had faded some letters, including one written by Miami Heat player Udonis Haslem, but most of the memorial felt like it was stuck in time. Some laminated photos of the victims said they were still “missing.”
Michael Knoll, the chief curator at HistoryMiami, said it was emotional work to dismantle the memorial piece by piece.
“I and my team here at the museum feel honored to be assisting in the effort to preserve the memories of all of those who passed in this tragedy and we’re looking forward to safeguarding their memories and the story of this moment,” he said.
One of the most visually striking elements of the memorial, the flowers poking through the holes in the fence, won’t be preserved. Only non-perishable items and those that are in good condition will be kept.
The memorial pieces will be stored in a climate-controlled facility until a decision is reached about how to create a permanent display for the memorial, which honors the 98 people who died in the June 24 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo. The Surfside Commission will discuss the future of the memorial wall at its September meeting, Dauginikas said. She said the decision about what to do with the memorial will “more than likely” be made between the town and HistoryMiami.
“However, no decision has yet been made as to when, where or how that process will move forward,” Dauginikas wrote in a statement.
In a statement Monday, county spokeswoman Rachel Johnson said Miami-Dade would play a more active role in deciding on a permanent location for the memorial items.
“We are coordinating with the Town of Surfside, families and survivors, and the community to determine the best option for where to place the items long-term, and we are looking for an option that would work for a long-term display within the Town of Surfside,” she said.
Johnson said county leaders had been planning for the eventual removal of the items from the memorial wall to preserve them after learning about how cities like Orlando, where 49 people were killed in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, handled preserving memorial items.
She said the county reached out to HistoryMiami, which offered their services in Surfside for free.
“We are fortunate that our community is home to HistoryMiami, which has the expertise, knowledge and professional staff able not only to remove and preserve the items but to safely maintain them until they can be relocated to a permanent location,” she said.
In the meantime, Surfside’s administration intends to create a space on the northern side of the tennis center to host a temporary memorial, Dauginikas said.
Vice Mayor Tina Paul, who proposed using the north end of the tennis center for the replacement memorial, said she did not learn of the planned removal of the memorial wall until last week. She said she has concerns about creating a disruption for residents or families of the victims who had regularly visited the memorial.
“My concern is that for families, for the community, for people visiting, there should be some semblance of a memorial there,” she said.
Leo Soto, who organized the memorial a day after the June 24 building disaster, said plant nurseries have donated 100,000 flowers to the memorial since its inception. As old ones die, he replaces them with new flowers.
He watched Monday as museum workers began to take the memorial — filled with wilting flowers — apart. Soto said he was glad HistoryMiami would preserve items that remained salvageable. He remembered watching the memorial grow from Day 1 to the point where President Joe Biden visited the site.
“This, as it is right now, it’s the last time you’re going to see it like this,” he said.
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