The Miami City Hall building in Coconut Grove.
SAM NAVARRO
Special for the Miami Herald
Before it became a symbol for city government, the blue and white building known today as Miami City Hall was a buzzing seaplane terminal operated by Pan American Airlines.
Now, with the city planning to relocate City Hall to the up-and-coming administrative building at the Miami Freedom Park soccer stadium site in less than two years, the building’s original tenant is interested in returning as the airline relaunches its brand.
Ed Wegel, CEO of Pan American World Airways, told the Miami Herald that as the company works to relaunch operations, it would be interested in housing its sales, marketing and communications departments in the two-story building, which currently has offices for the city clerk, the mayor and the five city commissioners.
“Even if for symbolic reasons, we would love to have a couple of offices in that building,” said Wegel, who is leading the certification and the relaunch of the airline.
Pan American’s Dinner Key terminal. People watched a plane’s arrival from the observation deck. Miami Herald file
Wegel said he would also be interested in launching electric seaplanes from Dinner Key Marina, with destinations to Islamorada, Marathon and Key West to the south, and Palm Beach, Jupiter and Tampa Bay to the north. In that scenario, Wegel said Pan Am would like to use the building to process passengers for security and tickets.
“So it sort of ties everything back in together,” Wegel said. “What’s old is new again.”
Pan Am is still in the process of being certified by FAA, Wegel said, adding that the company is moving its operating teams, maintenance and certification teams into a building near Miami International Airport on Oct. 1.
Miami City Hall Joey Flechas Miami Herald file
READ MORE: Yes, there was an airport on the Miami waterfront. And the terminal still exists
The prospect of Pan Am reoccupying its former building lands amid uncertainty for the fate of City Hall. While construction for the new city administration building — which includes City Commission chambers — is well underway, there’s a growing movement to keep City Hall as-is.
This week, the City Commission is voting on a proposal from Commissioner Damian Pardo that would designate the current City Hall as the “principal location for the regular meetings of the City Commission.”
But in the instance that the building is vacated in the next year or two, potential tenants are sure to be eyeing the premier piece of waterfront real estate.
The land is intertwined with Pan Am’s storied history in South Florida. After starting in Key West in 1927, the airline moved operations to Miami in 1928. It built a facility at Northwest 36th Street, the Pan Am terminal. That eventually grew into Miami International Airport. Pan Am built Hangar 5 in 1929, the oldest airport structure in the country.
The old Pan American Airways seaplane base on Dinner Key, which is now Miami City Hall. Miami Herald file
In the 1930s, the airline developed Dinner Key terminal in Coconut Grove. The city purchased the land and the building from Pan Am in 1946 and converted the terminal into City Hall in 1954. City Commission meetings have been held there for decades, at 3500 Pan American Drive.
Pan Am filed for bankruptcy protection in January 1991 and subsequently tried to reorganize and survive. That included moving its hub to Miami to mainly serve Latin America and the Caribbean. It also relocated its main office from New York to Miami that fall. But by December, the airline failed to turn things around and shut down operations.
Yet even today, the carrier has scores of fans looking to keep it alive.
The New York-based Pan Am Museum Foundation would love to put up a museum or a permanent series of exhibits at Dinner Key, chairperson Linda Freire told the Herald.
“We would love the opportunity if there’s an opportunity,” said Freire, who’ll be watching this week’s City Commission meeting virtually.
Early in 2024, Craig Carter acquired the Pan Am trademark, logo and intellectual property, including the name Pan American World Airways. Today, Carter remains the CEO of Pan Am Global Holdings, the parent company in charge of issuing licenses to entities looking to use the Pan Am name or brand.
He’s helped form several new entities with the goal of keeping Pan Am’s name alive. Pan Am Hotels is starting in Los Angeles. Pan Am Journeys offers customized, luxury flights for travelers looking to relive flying with Pan Am even one time, and has a trip to the African continent next year. That follows a transatlantic flight it had in 2025 that sold out in three days.
Carter said in an interview that he and Wegel, who then headed finance firm AVi8 Air Capital, contacted each other about a year and a half ago. Carter asked him to prepare research on relaunching the Pan Am brand as an airline.
Wegel was named CEO of the new airline division, Carter said. AVi8 Air Capital is a key financial backer.
“The objective is to honor our glorious product,” said Carter.
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Tess Riski covers Miami City Hall. She joined the Miami Herald in 2022 and has covered local politics throughout Miami-Dade County. She is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School’s Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.
Miami Herald
Vinod Sreeharsha covers tourism trends in South Florida for the Miami Herald.