Originally commissioned in the 1930s by Pan American Airways, the historic Globe was initially created by Rand McNally to serve as the centerpiece of Pan Am’s Dinner Key seaplane terminal. Before it became a museum piece, the Globe — with a circumference of 31 feet, five inches — was installed in the center of Pan Am’s Art Deco terminal that opened in 1934 at Dinner Key.
That building would eventually become Miami City Hall. The 6,500-pound, painted steel Pan Am globe greeted generations of patrons who visited the former Miami Science Museum for 55 years until the museum’s closing in 2015. When the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science opened its new building in Downtown Miami, the institution sought a local partner to take ownership of the piece.
Understanding the significance of such an iconic piece of Miami history, in 2020, Miami Worldcenter’s ownership, led by Miami Worldcenter Associates in partnership with CIM Group, acquired the Pan Am globe from Frost Science. The two were brought together by the History Miami Museum, which saw the value of preserving the globe as a public asset.
Details found on the Globe were pulled from a contemporary map found in the Library of Congress archives and includes country names, capitals, and major geological features as they stood in the early 1930s. The Globe was refurbished by the company ”Ride-on Projects” from 2020 to 2022. Led by the artist Franz Ackermann, the restoration keeps the Globe history of 1930s.
Now restored to its former glory in the heart of Downtown Miami, locals and visitors will be able to admire the Globe for generations to come.
