1945-1965

World class Miami International Airport opens at 20th Street

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was Miami International Airport. In fact, it took the better part of a decade and many twists and turns before the airport expansion approved by the Dade County Port Authority was completed.

*Vintage 1960’s Post Card showing terminal and Miami International Airport Hotel*

Plans are drawn up

As envisioned by the Port Authority in 1950, a new, state-of-the-art Miami International Airport was to be built on 20th Street, across the field from the NW 36th Street Airport then serving as Miami’s main municipal airport. Miami architects Steward Skinner & Associates were contracted to design it. By July, a large-scale plan of the proposed new airport was available for public viewing in Miami’s downtown courthouse lobby.

Virginia Gardens land needed

Before work could begin, however, the County advised that it needed to acquire an additional 400 acres for a 9,400 ft. east-west runway. The land in question was situated within the small residential Village of Virginia Gardens on the northwest corner of the 36th Street Airport. Residents were given until July 31 to vacate their homes or face condemnation proceedings. Some 120 parcels were involved. The process of removal was still ongoing in January 1951, when the federal government, citing a new Department of Defense program, threatened to take over the proceedings if they were not speedily concluded. The U.S. was at war with Korea, and it was disclosed that the Department of Defense considered the 9400 ft. runway and extension of other runways to be necessary for national defense purposes. A final Court order on January 31 concluded the proceedings. Some 42 remaining buildings were subsequently auctioned off as surplus and removed by buyers.

Korean War brings more delays

Then, in June 1951, came a bombshell: the Department of Defense asked the County to put its plans for the 20th Street terminal on hold, citing military mobilization needs. The DOD announced that its No. 1 priority was for the Port Authority to make MIA field improvements to lengthen runways and improve taxiways, lighting and power. At the request of the CAA, the architectural contract with Steward Skinner & Associates for 20th Street was cancelled.

It wasn’t until June of 1953, as the Korean War was winding down, that the Port Authority was able to announce that the 20th Street airport expansion project would be reinitiated. In December, a new set of renderings by Steward Skinner was released to the public. It was to take another five-plus years, however, before the project could be completed, and they were anything but smooth sailing.

Turmoil rocks Port Authority

In 1954, Dade County Commissioners approved the issue of a 25-year, $21 million revenue bond. The bond, backed by future airport and Venetian Causeway revenues, was to cover terminal construction, the Venetian Causeway purchase (part of a planned airport expressway), and outstanding airport expansion indebtedness. Over the summer, airlines finalized space requirements, and a new trust agreement was drawn up. Despite these advances, labor racketeering investigations begun in February cast a shadow over the Port Authority’s management of the airport. Accusations of corruption also emerged, leading to a Grand Jury probe in November. That month, longtime Port Authority director A. B. Curry, widely admired in aviation circles as the guiding hand behind MIA’s profitability, was arrested on charges of larceny. The Grand Jury, however, found no criminal liability involving the Port Authority and Curry, too, was completely cleared of all charges.

Death of J. Mark Wilcox

In June of 1955 the $21 million bond issue was sold, and in December a formal groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark commencement of construction of the terminal. Clearing the future terminal site began in early January 1956. Sadly, in February, Port Authority attorney J. Mark Wilcox died suddenly of a heart attack. Wilcox, a former three-term U.S. Congressional representative and political veteran, had been the Port Authority’s attorney since its founding in 1945. He was a specialist in self-liquidating bond issues and had handled all the intricate details of cobbling together MIA’s new 3000+ acre airport. He was credited with almost single-handedly pushing through the $21 million bond package that secured the financing for the terminal construction.

Bond issue contested

In 1957 the terminal expansion faced new political challenges. Newly elected Commissioners questioned the $21 million bond agreement, arguing that it overly favored the “Big Four” airlines (Pan Am, Eastern, National, and Delta) at the expense of smaller carriers and gave the Big Four too much control. Legal options were considered and one of the Commission’s first acts was to revoke the previously approved terminal name—Wilcox Field.

In August, the Port Authority proposed a new $60 million revenue bond issue, which would retire the earlier $21 million bond and fund additional projects, including the terminal expansion, a causeway to Elliot Key, and an Inter American Cultural and Trade Center. This bond issue, too, was to be backed by airport and Venetian Causeway revenues. The proposal was rejected by the Big Four carriers, who argued that the soon-to-arrive Jet Age could require significant unforeseen costs, making it risky to commit future airport revenues to non-aviation projects. They urged the Port Authority to conduct a study first. Civic leaders supported this request. A study was duly carried out with the result that, in July 1958, the Port Authority raised the proposed bond issue to $75 million, incorporating additional projects. This sparked strong political and public criticism and threats of lawsuits. With six new Commission seats being added in October, the incoming officials defeated the proposal.

Terminal is dedicated

Despite these headwinds and the turbulent political climate, construction of the terminal progressed steadily. At long last, on February 1, 1959, Miami’s new, modern airport terminal was formally dedicated and opened to the public. Evoking echoes of 1929, the dedication was the culmination of a Miami “Aviation Week,” which included an Air Show at Opa Locka and other high-flying festivities. In a two-and-a-half-hour ceremony attended by U.S. and foreign dignitaries and an estimated 8,000 guests, the terminal was dedicated by Argentine president Arturo Frondizi.

Forming a sweeping 2,000-foot arc from north to south and fronted by a mile long drive, the new airport was designed to efficiently manage passenger traffic, with departing passengers processed from a second-floor lobby while arrivals were processed through first-floor facilities. Beyond its 1,500 feet of ticket counters and the hotel, the new airport housed two restaurants, four coffee shops, and a variety of retail establishments, including two drugstores with lunch counters, three cocktail lounges, apparel shops for men, women, and children, newsstands, novelty and gift stores and two barber shops. Five long, spoke-like “fingers,” or concourses, extended outwards onto the aprons for on-loading and off-loading aircraft. By the end of 1959, a sixth concourse was already in the works.

Hotel is completed

Nine months later, the 256-room Miami International Airport Hotel, also designed by Steward Skinner & Associates, was completed. Rising from the roof of the terminal, the hotel was the first large airport hotel in the country. The interior design theme was “the Wide, Wide World,” with rooms decorated in Scandinavian, Far Eastern, Latin American, French and Italian themes.

And the political wrangling? The $60 million bond issue was defeated again. Disputes over airline fee structures were settled when the Port Authority waived a head tax for smaller carriers. The existing rates from 1945 remained in effect until 1966, preserving earlier financial agreements. And in January 1959, the County Commission agreed to reverse itself and redesignate the new airport as Wilcox Field.

Additional reading: