Maybe it’s because I have lived on BK1 for 30 years. Maybe it is I am just getting older…
The Mandarin hotel implosion left me sad. I look at the rubble pile and feel like it is the grave of a departed friend.
About 26 years ago I watched several Brickell buildings get imploded. I watched one from my apartment. It did not feel like what we experienced on Sunday. That shook!
Watching this led me to reflect as I watched the construction and now the demolition of that building. When I moved onto this island there was a house you could hardly see surrounded by unkept trees and shrubs in the hotel’s space. It was “Old Man Claughton’s” place. According to the stories I heard (I have no proof of the story) he ran into money problems or maybe passed away. Swire was able to finally purchase the one piece of the island they did not own. It was cleaned up then turned into a park until the construction started.
When people asked where I lived, Brickell Key rarely rang a bell. But the moment I mentioned the Mandarin Oriental hotel, they knew.
After the opening I dined at Café Sambal, later this space was La Mar where you could count on great food and Pisco Sours. There were the years of Azul. Initially led by Michelle Bernstein. Awesome, always a surprise amuse bouche with the meal.
Many cocktails at the hotel bar were served to me and my friends. But you know this stuff.
Those were just some of the flashbacks from the implosion. The others included:
- The pandemic. It felt sort of like when we were stuck in our apartments, only this time there were police yelling at us to go inside! Fortunately, it was only for an hour, but the lack of movement outside felt reminiscent.
- 9/11: This was a double flashback.
- First the thought of the hotel during the months after the attacks. No one was flying. Miami hotels became very empty and very cheap.
- The second of course is you cannot help but think about Ground Zero in NYC when you look at the current mound of rubble. I want that to go away as quick as possible.
- Age: This is the first time I personally watched a building go up and come down. Growing up in New York City as a kid you would watch construction move so slowly peeking through the cut-out holes in wood walls around the site. At first as they have to cut away rock. Once they excavated then the buildings would go up much quicker. I watched the Mandarin site in surprise when I saw there was no cutting into anything. No basement, no substructure, just start building! That became normal for me as a South Florida standard.
You can’t stop progress. I get a sense that the new buildings will be less remarkable than the original. I suppose that is because of the timing. Now all new Miami buildings have the dark glass aesthetic. The modern Mediterranean curved building was fresh in 2000.
But beyond all of that, it reminded me how much of what we love about this island isn’t just the buildings—it’s the memories we’ve created around them. I’m grateful to have shared those moments with so many of you over the years, and I look forward to the new ones we’ll create together.