The decaying hotel at Miami Beach's historic Deauville Beach Resort, which once played host to everyone from the Beatles to President John F. Kennedy, was imploded Sunday morning after it was declared an unsafe structure.
The implosion of the Deauville hotel tower at 6701 Collins Avenue occured Sunday at 8 a.m.
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" I was shocked at the sound. It was very dramatic," said Miami Beach resident Shelley Tanner. "There were a lot of people out there. The crowd started gathering about an hour before."
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Streets in the area - Collins Avenue and Harding Avenue from 65-70th streets - were closed around 7:30 a.m. and were expected to be reopened by 10 a.m.
The historic building has been closed since 2017 after suffering damage from an electrical fire and Hurricane Irma. It fell into such bad shape that an engineering report found it "unsafe" and beyond repair, saying it "cannot be saved due to structural defects."
"It kind of shook my heart, my soul a little bit. It was loud and it was strong from a physical standpoint, but also emotional," said Daniel Nagler, a spectator. "We saw some people crying. They could've been crying because it shook so much or they could've been crying because some of the past is now gone."
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Historic preservationists led a years-long effort to save the building but after the structural report from an engineering company hired by the property owners was reviewed, Miami Beach's building department declared a demolition order.
The building was originally constructed in 1957 and by the 1960s, the Deauville was the place to be. The "Ed Sullivan Show" telecast a Beatles appearance live from the hotel's ballroom in 1964, and President John F. Kennedy gave a speech to young Democrats there in 1961. Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland and Tony Bennett also performed at the resort.
"It has a lot of history. The Beatles played there, I believe," said Gerardo Villegas, a spectator. "I just hope they build something new and honor it with the name or something like that.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross had proposed a two-tower development designed by architect Frank Gehry, featuring a six-star hotel and luxury residences, at the Deauville site.
But on Election Day, Miami Beach voters said "no" to allowing Ross to exceed current building-size regulations to build the development.
Now the future of the site remains uncertain following the implosion.
"The challenge of the Deauville property is that the previous owners of it created such a high price point that it’s very hard for a development to work there," Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said. "So somebody has to build something that’s gonna make enough money to warrant a purchase price."
Gelber had been a proponent of Ross' plan, but said he's not giving up on the site.
"This is just a back to the drawing board. I think it will be terrible if in 10 or 20 years this lot was still empty," Gelber said.
