Miami auctions off lifeguard towers

These Miami Beach lifeguard stations won’t have lifeguards on duty anymore, but the towers are getting second lives.

In August, the city listed six of its colorful and iconic lifeguard towers in an online auction. About 40 people who loved the towers, appreciated their history or were intrigued with the idea of actually taking one home bid on the boxy wooden stations.

The stands, which date to the 1980s and have weathered a few hurricanes, were sold in “as in” condition. They have stairs and a small deck. And because of their bright stylish designs, they’re akin to pieces of beach art.

Winning bids were as low as $2,050 and as high as $3,150, according to the city of Miami Beach.

So what will the new owners do with the towers? Turn them into treehouses, tiki bars, or mini-billboards?

How about a cabana and deejay booth?

That’s what Freddy Seikaly plans to do with Tower #100, which is painted in light blue and yellow hues with surfboards and colorful flowers. He bid $2,050.

“The lifeguard towers are historic and meaningful to our family. They have survived each major hurricane since Andrew and are a staple,” said Seikaly, who Six colorful lifeguard towers dating to the 1980s were auctioned online by the city of Miami Beach. Winning bids ranged between $2,050 and $3,150.

works for the NSI Insurance Group. “We grew up going to the beach every weekend and thought it would be cool to have a piece of Miami Beach history in our backyard.”

As part of being the highest bidder, the new owners are responsible for picking

up their tower and transportation. Seikaly used a crane to pluck the tower from the beach and place it onto an oversized flat bed truck which then delivered the stand to his home in Miami’s Bay Point neighborhood across from Miami Beach.

“They’re jealous,” Seikaly said when asked about the reaction of family and friends when he told them about his new-old lifeguard stand.

Tower #35 was donated to the History Miami Museum. The sale of another tower, the red-white-blue station #113, is still pending the decision of the secondhighest bidder.

Coral Gables resident Caroline Lobon bid on Tower #172, a blue and white structure. She’s restoring it as a tree house for her children.

“We find the lifeguard tower not only to be an amazing tree house and hideout for our children but also an incredible piece of art and history of Miami,” said Lobon whose final bid was for $3,101.

“When bidding online, we were not ready to lose. We were set on getting the lifeguard tower and making it ours,” she said of the tower which was stationed at 72nd Street in Miami Beach.

“We had our hearts set on the 72nd Street lifeguard tower as we lived for many years in New York City on 72nd Street.”

West Palm Beach attorney Denise L. Baker successfully bid on Tower #141 for $3,150.

She wasn’t exactly shopping online for a lifeguard station but when she came across a news story about Miami Beach putting the towers up for sale, she was intrigued.

“I signed up, registered for the auction and sort of held my breath,” said Baker. “I bid on several towers and that was the one.” Her tower, which was based at 41st Street, is turquoise with a royal blue base.

“It’s more than just a tower. It’s art,” said Baker, a self-described art lover. “Station 141 provides an iconic piece of public art and I am thrilled to have own it.”

Baker plans to relocate hers soon near the Indian River in Jensen Beach where she has property that she intends to house a satellite office for her practice. Baker said she travels between West Palm Beach and the United Kingdom as inhouse counsel for people with an international presence. She plans to use the tower as an artsy mini-billboard for the practice.

“It will serve as advertising initially but with an artistic flair,” said Baker who is exploring the possibility using the base of the tower as a live/work space as a tiny home model concept.

“My main goal is to make sure that Station 141 and the stories associated with it are preserved for many years to come,” she said.

“The lifeguard towers are historic and meaningful to our family. They have survived each major hurricane since Andrew and are a staple.’’

Freddy Seikaly

DENISE L. BAKER PHOTO