Miami-Dade

As Camillus House moves to new campus, old downtown Miami shelter to be torn down

 

The block of shop fronts that has for decades housed the Camillus House homeless shelter in downtown Miami’s Park West district will be razed on Monday.

The block of store fronts that has for decades housed the Camillus House homeless shelter in downtown Miami’s Park West district will be razed on Monday, its administrators say.

Camillus House is moving its shelter and rehabilitation programs to a new $80 million campus near Jackson Memorial Hospital.

The long-awaited move, the product of years of planning and negotiation with the city, marks a significant milestone for Miami. It spells the end of the privately run shelter’s traditional soup line, which has fed tens of thousands of people but has also been blamed for widespread blight in the area, while ensuring enhanced and expanded services for the homeless.

Under an agreement with the city, the new facility will not have a soup line.

The old shelter will be demolished after the last remaining residents — participants in a residential treatment program — are moved to the new campus on Monday. The demolition is expected to take about 24 hours, Camillus House spokesman Sam Gil said.

The religious order that runs the shelter, the Brothers of the Good Shepherd, purchased its first store front on the block in 1960. The property will be sold, Gil said.

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