Job seekers gather at Miami Art Museum site

More than 425 job seekers turned up at the Miami Art Museum job information fair today, just a few steps from crews already working on the $131 million construction project. Some were so desperate for employment they turned up wearing hard hats and steel-toed boots required for constructions sites, the South Florida Business Journal reported, just to show contractors they were ready to work. Job openings were for carpenters, plumbers, HVAC mechanics, pipe fitters, sheet metal workers and laborers, the Journal said.

The new Miami Art Museum has been under construction since November 2010. Development is progressing on schedule, with vertical construction of the first floor complete. The building is slated to open in 2013. [SFBJ]