Boom! Watch Miami buildings get demolished through the years

By Miami Herald Archives

Updated April 13, 2026 11:01 AM

The Mandarin Oriental, a luxury hotel that opened in 1988, was imploded on April 12, 2026, to make way for an even more luxurious complex.

Miami, a city that seems under continual reinvention, has seen several implosions over the years. They include the Deauville, the MiMo hotel in Miami Beach most famous for hosting The Beatles’ U.S. debut in 1964.

MORE: Implosion of the Mandarin Oriental

Let’s take a look at some of the building implosions in South Florida the past few years:

Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach

Published Nov. 13, 2022

By Aaron Leibowitz

The oceanfront building at 6701 Collins Ave. crumbled to the ground in a matter of seconds after a series of thundering booms, marking the end of the road for a hotel that famously hosted the Beatles in 1964 and fell into disrepair in recent years.

A crowd of people who gathered on the beach to watch the implosion near 64th Street cheered as the building fell, then quickly was sent scrambling as a large cloud of dust moved south. Crowds also gathered across the street on Indian Creek Drive to see the building’s demise.

The implosion seemed to set off a smoke alarm in at least one nearby building.Steven Cheshire, a South Beach resident, brought his six-year-old daughter to the beach to watch the event.

“A building blowing up on the beach,” Cheshire said when asked why he was there. “And the Beatles played here on Ed Sullivan. There’s historical significance.”

With the press of a button, this South Beach eyesore finally came down

Published April 16, 2019

By Kyra Gurney

It took less than 20 seconds to bring down a building that has blighted the entrance to South Beach for more than a decade.

On Tuesday morning, the abandoned South Shore Hospital at 630 Alton Road collapsed in a cloud of dust. Explosives blasted the building supports and gravity pulled the structure down, leaving a heap of concrete chunks on the site.

It took 235 pounds of dynamite placed in more than 400 locations in the structure to implode the building, according to Mark Loizeaux, the president of Controlled Demolition Inc. The explosives were detonated in rapid succession, emitting loud bangs, followed by the booming noise of the building coming down.

After the dust settled, cleanup crews worked to clear debris and dust from the corner of Alton Road and Sixth Street near the entrance to the MacArthur Causeway.

South Shore Hospital has a long history in Miami Beach as a geriatric facility. It was founded in 1968 but struggled financially when South Beach’s demographics changed in the 1990s and younger people moved to the area.

Crescent Heights bought the nonprofit facility in 2004 for $35 million and converted it to a for-profit medical center, but it had a slew of administrative problems. The hospital was badly damaged in 2005 when the windows on the west side of the building were blown out by Hurricane Wilma. It closed in 2006 after going bankrupt.

Hotel demolition induces nostalgia

Published Nov. 22, 2007

By Rodolfo R. Roman

In a matter of seconds, memories turned into a cloud of dust as the Sheraton Bal Harbour was imploded Sunday morning -- despite residents’ concerns.

“It’s been a two-year process for the implosion,” said Assistant Mayor Jean Rosenfield, moments before the Miami Beach icon was blown to bits. “Bal Harbour is beautiful, but it will be even more beautiful.”

The 645-room hotel at 9701 Collins Ave., which opened as the Americana in 1956, tumbled down to make way for a 350-unit condominium and a 250-unit St. Regis Hotel, owned by Miami’s Related Group and Starwood Hotel and Resorts.

The implosion was scheduled at 7 a.m., but was postponed just a few minutes after Police Chief Thomas E. Hunker ordered some residents from the nearby Majestic Towers to go indoors as they looked outside from their balconies.

“It’s an awesome project, said Hunker. “It takes a lot of people to get this to happen.”

Those who were curious saw the show from the Bal Harbour shops parking lot, south of 96th Street on the beach, and on the water, as private boat owners enjoyed the event. Viewing was limited because Collins Avenue was closed between 96th Street and 108th Street.

For Morris Skolnick, who looked at the debris as the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Urban Search and Rescue Team conducted an emergency services training drill to simulate high-rise condominium disasters, it’s sad to see the memories vanish in a matter of seconds.

“We were sorry to watch it be torn down, but I know it will be better,” he said. “We’ve been coming down here since it was the Americana. There were a lot of memories in that building.”

“I remember coming to my high school prom in that building,” said Dianne Panka from Surfside. “It’s one of those moments. It’s nostalgic.”

But, Morris says he is looking forward to moving in to his new home.

“We purchased a condo at the St. Regis about a year ago,” said Morris. “So, I am looking forward to new memories in the new building.”