Implosion Date for old South Shore Hospital now April 16

Developer Russell Galbut and his team are preparing for a day that has long been anticipated by neighbors of the vacant South Shore Hospital: the demolition of the old shell that has stood at one of the gateways to Miami Beach for more than a decade. As part of the approval process for a new tower at 500 Alton and the donation of a three-acre park to the City, Galbut promised to demolish the structure as soon as possible. That day is April 16. 
 
The building will come down in spectacular fashion, via implosion at 10:00 that morning. The original date was April 14 but due to the South Beach Triathlon and the closing of I-395 for filming of Sony Studios' "Bad Boys 3" movie, no one thought it was a good idea to add to the traffic tie-ups so the date was moved.
 
Galbut detailed the schedule for the implosion and its impact on the immediate area at a community meeting this past week.

BG Group is the general contractor and Controlled Demolition, Inc (CDI) is the implosion subcontractor.
 
8:00-8:30 am

• Setup of barricades commences to secure the Exclusion Zone
• Police on site
• A Command Post will be established on Alton Road to the north

Regarding to Exclusion Zone, Galbut said, “No one should be in that area as determined by experts.”
 
“The Bentley and Floridian are out of the Exclusionary Zone but it goes up to the front of their property. There will be a police officer in each of those buildings so that no one will be able to exit from the building when the traffic is closed off.” 
 
9:00-9:59 am

• Exclusion zone to be cleared
• CDI or BG Group personnel in touch with the Command Post will be placed in the lobbies of the adjacent residential properties to ensure that residents do not exit the structure and enter the Exclusion Zone during the countdown

“The City has volunteered to come forward and they will have every street sweeper out and we will have Tremont and their entire fleet of tow vehicles will be onsite that morning so anybody who’s parked in the exclusionary zone will be moved without haste, so any car that’s parked in there will be moved.”
 
He noted the towing company has also volunteered to be on-site that morning to help with cleanup. (Galbut has an ownership interest in the company.)
 
9:59 am

• There will be three, 1-second long horns or sirens indicating 15 seconds to blast
• Note: If there are any security or other issues that prevent the implosion from proceeding, CDI’s countdown will go into a “hold” at ten seconds and recommence at this point once such issues have been resolved
• Final confirmation that the security area is clear

 
10:00 am

• An audible countdown (“10,9,8…”) over CDI's radios will be performed
• 600 Alton Road building is imploded

 
10:00-10:30 am

• CDI will inspect the demolition area and sound five second-long signals to designate an “All Clear”
• Control of the demolition site and adjacent streets will be returned to BG Group for dust cleanup and reopening of streets for traffic in cooperation with the local authorities

 
Ivy Fradin from the BG Group noted the company is a “16 year-old Florida-based demolition contractor” managing the process at 600 Alton. Since March 25, they have been on-site beginning prep work for the demolition. 
 
 

 

Fradin said subcontractor CDI has been doing implosion work “all over the world” working with “all types of structures [and] environments.” 
 
While immediate cleanup will take place on the streets following the implosion, Fradin said site clean-up will take from 6 to 8 weeks. “We try to under promise and over deliver,” she said.
 
Galbut has focused on resiliency in the construction of the development that will encompass the 500-700 blocks of Alton Road through the green space in the park, green roofs, and water holding areas among other things. He’s hoping to be able to re-use the old concrete from the demolition on-site.
 
“We’re looking at the possibility of crushing the concrete on our site and using it on our site because, you know, we need a lot of fill,” he said. “We’re still analyzing how much we would have to crush and whether or not it’s logical to do it.” If so, the only thing that will need to be trucked out is the rebar inside the concrete along with the demolition debris from the old 7-11 on the site which will also be taken away at the same time.
 
Excerpts from a BG Group notice to adjacent property owners regarding the implosion process:
“Implosion is a process where a small amount of explosives is used to disrupt selected supports in a building. This allows gravity to pull the structure down in a controlled manner. CDI has used this implosion method thousands of times around the world during the past 65 years to assist Property Owners and Contractors in the removal of unwanted structures.”
 
“Dust is an unpreventable byproduct of all types of demolition. With a wrecking ball or high-reach excavator, the building is slowly broken up releasing dust over a lengthy period of time. With implosion, the same overall quantity of dust is released in a matter of seconds, and may linger in the general area for 4 to 6 minutes before crews begin cleanup of same from streets and sidewalks. Depending on wind speed and direction on the day of the implosion, the dust may or may not reach your properties. As a precautionary measure, we recommend you see that all windows, doors and air intakes are closed and cover any other openings that might allow dust to enter your apartment, house or building. We also recommend you turn off all exhaust fans before or at the time of the implosion as these might draw air in to your building through cracks in walls and windows.”
 
“There will be heavy dust in the block immediately surrounding the demolition site. Dust may also drift outside and downwind of the Exclusion Zone, depending on weather conditions. If you find dust uncomfortable or irritating, or if you have any respiratory conditions that would be aggravated by dust, please stay indoors during demolition.”
 
 
A portion of the video of the presentation can be viewed on Facebook via Andres Asion.