Residents of Miami’s Allapattah Neighborhood will be without a library branch in the new year — at least for a little while.
Starting Dec. 31, the Allapattah Branch Library will be closed to make way for an 8-story development called Dulce Vida Apartments.
Developer Coral Rock will build about 230 apartments, including affordable and workforce units, on the site. Construction is expected to take 19 months. A temporary library site is scheduled to open nearby in March.
Coral Rock Development promises a new state-of-the art library will be built on the ground floor of the apartments with expanded space, multi-purpose rooms and new public computers.
Miami-Dade County officials are encouraging library patrons to visit the Overtown, Model City and Edison branches in the meantime.
Students from Miami Jackson Senior High in Allapattah protested the project in 2021 when initial plans sought to move the library branch to a new location. The students petitioned the City of Miami to delay the project until a temporary library could be built nearby, and that the new development must have a library component.
City Commissioners passed a resolution to that effect in June of 2021 because the city leased the land the library was built on to Miami-Dade County.
READ MORE: Judge dismisses complaint against Miami land transfer for Trump's presidential library
This is a News In Brief report. Visit WLRN News for in-depth reporting from South Florida and Florida news.
