MIAMI – A groundbreaking ceremony was held Wednesday for the first phase of the highly anticipated Liberty Square Rising development.
Dozens of people in the Liberty City community came out to witness the start of construction on the largest housing redevelopment project in Miami-Dade County history.
A total of 709 homes in the current housing projects will be demolished and replaced with 1,400 new homes, both public and affordable housing.
The project also includes a new community center, a library, a child care center and 24-hour surveillance cameras to help cut down on crime in the area.
"Now that we've been moved all around, all around, and now we get a new development. I'm looking forward to this," Margaret Spencer, who has been a Liberty City resident since 1987, said. "I mean, it's long overdue. The area's been like real, not only with the crime, but also that everything is deteriorating inside the places, so it's just good that we're getting refreshed, built up from the ground residences, and that's what we need, and also I think with a new residence, we will have a new community and a better life for our kids."
The groundbreaking fell on the 37th anniversary of the McDuffie riots.
Miami saw three days of unrest after four white Miami-Dade police officers were acquitted in Arthur McDuffie's death, a black insurance agent who was beaten and killed.
A total of 18 people died in the riots and hundreds others were injured.
Liberty City was one of the areas impacted the most by the riots and some say it never really rebounded after that.
The redevelopment though is a chance for change.
"Yeah, it's a blessing from God," Joyce Fleming, of the Liberty City Council, said. "When God go to moving you, you can't stop the man."
The project is expected to bring in 6,000 jobs and will take about five years to complete.