The story behind The Florida Bar Complex
Standing on a five-acre tract with a view of the Capitol in Tallahassee, the Bar Center is modeled after the historic Colonial Williamsburg architectural style, rich in the traditions of American law and freedom.
The original 20,412 square foot, three-story Florida Bar Center built on 2.5 acres of land in what used to be known as the Smoky Hollow community in Tallahassee, three blocks from the state Capitol, was completed in 1966.
As The Florida Bar continues celebrating its 75th year, we look back at the long journey that led to the creation of The Florida Bar Center, a permanent home that reflects the institution’s history, growth, and evolving role in Florida’s justice system.
Standing on a five-acre tract with a view of the Capitol in Tallahassee, the Bar Center is modeled after the historic Colonial Williamsburg architectural style, rich in the traditions of American law and freedom.
With more than 47,000 square feet to serve the needs of the Bar’s 114,000 members and the citizens of Florida, the Bar Center is often described as one of the most beautiful buildings in Tallahassee. The Flemish bond brickwork structure with six large pillars at the front entrance is surrounded in a forested, park-like setting.
The center stands in stark contrast to the space allotted the Bar when it was integrated 75 years ago. Then there were 3,000 members and Bar headquarters occupied one office in the Supreme Court building. When the fundraising drive was launched to build the Bar’s permanent home in 1963, the membership had grown to 8,500 and the Bar occupied about 3,000 square feet of rental space in the Petroleum Building, plus a machine room and limited storage area in the basement of the adjacent Supreme Court.
The Florida Bar's Tallahassee headquarters under construction in 1966.
But where did it all start? Who gave building a permanent home for the Bar its first impetus? Was it during President Donald Carroll’s administration in 1956 when the Board of Governors authorized the hiring of additional staff and amended the Integration Rule? Or was it — as Judge Charles B. Fulton said at the dedication of the Bar Center in October 1966 — really Justice Glenn Terrell who placed the cornerstone when he wrote the Supreme Court’s 1949 opinion granting the petition of the Florida State Bar Association asking that the Bar of Florida be integrated into one professional organization? Or was it past Executive Director Paul Comstock’s urging in 1960 that “the construction of a spacious headquarters building is clearly a visible goal?”
All these occasions and personalities played a part in the dream for a Florida Bar headquarters building, said Marshall R. Cassedy, the Bar’s executive director from 1961 to 1980, in 2000 when the Bar was celebrating its 50th year.
The original 20,412 square foot, three-story structure built on 2.5 acres of land in what used to be known as the Smoky Hollow community in Tallahassee, three blocks from the state Capitol, was completed in 1966. Ten years later, a 23,000 square foot addition was built to accommodate the needs of the fast-growing profession. Then, in 1988, the Bar purchased the adjacent three story, 45,000 square foot IBM building. In 1992, the Bar renovated the old IBM building to match the Williamsburg style of the main Bar Center and added a fourth floor, bringing it to 60,000 square feet. It is now known as The Florida Bar Annex. Both building were renamed the “John F. Harkness, Jr., Complex,” to honor the Bar’s executive director who retired after 37 year of service in 2017.
Florida Bar headquarters was blanketed in snow in January 2025’s historic winter storm event, with at least one place in Tallahassee reporting over two inches of snowfall and frozen streets citywide.
It was President Charles B. Fulton who took the first positive steps toward constructing a headquarters building when he appointed a “Committee on Florida Bar Building” in January 1962, chaired by Delbridge L. Gibbs of Jacksonville and with a membership consisting of Fletcher G. Rush of Orlando, William P. Simmons, Jr., of Miami, Roy E. Kinsey of Daytona Beach, W.O. Mehrtens of Miami, Robert M. Ervin of Tallahassee, and Russell McCaughan of Ft. Lauderdale.
At first it was not even clear that the Bar’s headquarters would be built in Tallahassee. Many argued that Orlando was a more central, thus logical, location.
In the January 1964 Journal, then President Delbridge L. Gibbs went so far as to pen a column explaining the choice to make Tallahassee the Bar’s permanent home.
Honorable Theodore R. Nelson Miami Beach, Florida
Dear Mr. Nelson:
Thank you for your letter of December 18, 1963, expressing your frank disapproval of the selection of Tallahassee for the location of The Florida Bar Center. I shall endeavor to explain fully the reasons which impelled the Board of Governors to decide on that location. May I say at the outset that no real or imagined prejudice against Dade County, or any other section of the state was involved. The decision of the Board of Governors was unanimous and I am proud to say that every member of the Board, including the three able and dedicated lawyers representing the 11th Judicial Circuit, has paid or pledged his $500 contribution to the Center.
The decision to select Tallahassee was made after the most careful consideration of all of the factors involved. As your letter points out, there are good, logical claims for almost every section of the State. Those from Miami pointed out that almost one-third of our lawyers are in Dade County; Orlando claimed that it is truly the “center” of Florida; St. Petersburg and Gainesville each thought it ought to be near their fine law schools; and so it went all about the State. But the fact that Tallahassee is our State’s capital was the overriding reason.
The Florida Bar was created and exists under the inherent and constitutional powers of the Supreme Court of Florida, as an official arm and agency of that Court. We are not and do not act as a private, voluntary association which is beholden only to its members. In the discharge of our duties in the field of professional discipline under the Integration Rule, as well as in almost every other area of bar activity, the Executive Director and other members of our headquarters staff are in contact and communication with the Chief Justice, individual members of the Court or the Clerk’s office on practically a daily basis. Moreover, our study revealed that, although the creation of the District Courts of Appeal somewhat reduced the need for lawyers to go to the State Capital on appellate matters, there are nevertheless 18 major courts and administrative agencies located there which cause approximately 9,000 out-of-town lawyers to visit Tallahassee each year. It is, of course, hoped and expected that The Florida Bar Center will be directly helpful to and can be utilized for proper purposes by those lawyers who visit Tallahassee as well as those resident there. However, most lawyers have no present need or occasion to visit or use directly the physical facilities of the headquarters office and, in my judgment, this would be true regardless of where it might be located. Thus, proximity to the Supreme Court was the compelling reason for selecting Tallahassee.
Perhaps I have not convinced you of the wisdom of our choice; however, I hope I have fully explained the basis upon which it was made.
Cordially yours,
Delbridge L. Gibbs
President, The Florida Bar
And what about the style of the building?
Marshall R. Cassedy
One contingent argued that Florida represented the pinnacle of the emerging “space age” and certainly the Bar must, through its headquarters, reflect this image of modern development. The other side — initially a minority of the committee — considered the need for tradition, dignity, and a warm and hospitable appearance in the new home for Florida lawyers.
Cassedy said some early sketches included rectangular buildings in the Parthenon tradition, box-type structures, some with flat roofs, while another featured exposed steel girders ascending skyward from the exterior walls. All were reviewed by the Architectural and Building Committee chaired by J. Lewis Hall of Tallahassee. The committee ultimately recommended the Williamsburg style as the best design to sit atop the elevated land site purchased by the Bar.
In retrospect, Cassedy said, “without question we made the right decision” in going with the Williamsburg style.
The Florida Bar Center in 1967.
Chesterfield Smith of Bartow and Wm. Reece Smith, Jr., of Tampa, co-chairs of the newly appointed Florida Bar Center Campaign Committee, presided at a December 1963 fundraising kickoff event, which also was attended by Justice Millard Caldwell, Secretary of State Tom Adams, and members of the campaign committee including all circuit campaign chairs. In all, the committee set its sights on raising $565,000.
As Chesterfield Smith said that night and many times during the campaign, “If you love your profession, you will want to be a part of the Bar Center Campaign.”
The building as finally drafted consisted of three floors, including a basement, and in March 1965 Bear Construction Company was awarded the building contract.
In the same month it was announced that the fundraising earnings had exceeded its goal. In all, $568,000 had been pledged by individual donors and $38,000 by memorial and special gifts. Later pledges brought the overall amount to $685,175.
Groundbreaking ceremonies in April 1965 were presided over by President Robert M. Ervin and construction started soon after.
With the building finished in late May 1966 and officially accepted by the Board of Governors in June, the movers arrived on the scene to transfer all records and furniture from the Petroleum Building to the new Bar home.
The building was dedicated before a crowd of more than 400 spectators from across the state on October 8, 1966, the morning of the Florida State University-University of Florida football game, which helped boost attendance at the dedication event, Cassedy said. (The Gators, led by quarterback Steve Spurrier, won the football game, 22-19.) Chief Justice Thornal and other Bar leaders who had played a part in the Bar Center program spoke at the event.
In 1992, the Bar renovated the old IBM building to match the Williamsburg style of the main Bar Center and added a fourth floor, bringing it to 60,000 square feet. It is now known as The Florida Bar Annex.
According to an account of the dedication in the Journal, the remarks of each speaker emphasized the real heroes of the Bar Center program, namely the 1,283 individual donors who saw fit to contribute $500 each to the campaign, the equivalent of about $5,000 today.
One dedication speaker spoke of The Florida Bar arriving at its maturity with this new facility. He spoke, too, of how the building would aid all lawyers in exercising their basic responsibilities to safeguard human rights under the rule of law, improve the administration of justice to ensure justice for all persons without delay, and provide improved services to the membership.
The addition to the Bar Center was completed in 1976 at a cost of approximately $1.5 million. Again, the money for the new construction was donated by the rank-and-file Bar membership. At that dedication ceremony, Chesterfield Smith said the Bar Center demonstrated the practical independence of all lawyers as officers of the court.
“The Florida Bar Center, splendid and magnificent in presence at this time, is a symbol of the essential unity of all Florida lawyers,” Smith said.
Parts of this story were gleaned from past Journal articles written by former Editor Linda H. Yates.
(Editor’s Note: As The Florida Bar continues to celebrate its 75th year, we are reflecting on the milestones, people, and progress that have shaped the profession since the historic integration of the Bar in 1950. Throughout the celebration, The Florida Bar News is featuring stories that highlight key moments in our shared history — and we want to hear from you.
If you have memories, reflections, or personal stories about the practice of law in Florida, we invite you to share them. Selected submissions may be featured in upcoming editions of The Florida Bar News. Please email your recollections to [email protected].)
