:: U.S.
Coast Guard Air Station at Dinner Key
2600 S Bayshore Drive
Years Built: 1932, 1942-1943 (annex)
Builders: U.S. Coast Guard and Fred Howland
Date Designated: 2005
a. This seaplane hangar is the only building associated with the nation's
first permanent U.S. Coast Guard air station. Seaplanes housed at the
facility played a crucial role protecting the Florida coast during World
War II and in the Coast Guard's humanitarian efforts during the Cuban
refugee boatlift of the 1960s. The City of Miami purchased the building
in 1972 for use as a gymnasium, known as the Virrick Gym. The main hangar
building was recently restored, and the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station at
Dinner Key was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
in 2002.
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