The Freedom Tower, a Miami architectural landmark, is a seventeen-story structure erected in 1925 as an example of Spanish Renaissance revival style in South Florida. Its tower was modeled after the architecturally renowned Giralda Tower in Seville, Spain with the building's lower three floors creating a large footprint (approximately 15,000 sq. ft per floor).

Over the years, the building came into a state of progressive deterioration from both the original construction practices and its proximity to the ocean. It was crumbling from the inside out. The original concrete construction methods sowed the seeds of deterioration within the building's own columns, beams and slabs. A high degree of cast-in chlorides, accelerated by the prevailing moisture and saltwater in the air resulted in delamination, cracks, spalled concrete, and reinforcement corrosion.

In 1997, the new owner of the building revealed that the lower building was to house a museum, a library full of historical documents and memorabilia, plus meeting and assembly spaces. The upper floors of the tower were to become office space for the Cuban American National Foundation. Architectural and engineering firms were retained to renovate and rehabilitate the building.

Structural Preservation Systems was contracted to carry out the challenging structural repairs. Testing revealed that the concrete strength was about half of what it should be. Practically every beam and every column in the garage area, as well as the entire soffit, needed to be replaced. In many locations, full column removal and replacement was necessary, requiring extensive shoring of the upper floors. Many beams required both full-depth as well as partial replacement. Hydrodemolition and chipping around the existing reinforcement was used to remove approximately 3 inches of delaminated and spalled concrete followed by abrasive blast of the steel reinforcement. The form-and-pump technique was then used to add 4 inches of concrete. The library level required additional load carrying capacity. This task was accomplished by full depth replacement of the slab, beam enlargement, and structural upgrades utilizing externally bonded FRP composites. A successful team-oriented solution process between owner, engineer, material supplier, architect, and contractor was able to meet the technical and timeframe challenges presented by this historic renovation.