Once a source of pride for Miami Gardens, Parkway West Medical Center to be demolished
MIAMI - Demolition crews are already busy tearing down the old Parkway West Medical Center, a place that was once a source of pride in Miami Gardens when it was built in 1972.
"It was great that we had a hospital many years ago," said Shirley Gibson, Miami Garden's first mayor. "It said a lot about what this community offered to its residents and the services that you would need," she said.
But that all changed when the building closed more than 20 years ago — leaving behind a dilapidated, graffiti magnet right in the middle of the busy Golden Glades. "It has been an eyesore for many years, as I said more than 25 years, maybe 30 years. It has been an eyesore.
Gibson, aside from being Miami Garden's first mayor she's lived there for more than 60 years. "We worked tirelessly trying to someone or some business to come, maybe reopen, develop it," she explained. "But we were unable to have that happen," she said.
A ribbon cutting Tuesday afternoon signified the beginning of the end for the building. It will be torn down, leading to new development and new growth on this three-and-a-half acre prime parcel of land.
"We need something new, you know. We need something different in Miami Gardens," said Aaron Haimov of the Haimov Group. They own the property now and have big plans for a hotel, convention center and wedding venue.
"It's looking to be about 20 stories high and probably around 150 hotel rooms and 200,000 square feet of convention and the rest being parking," Haimov said.
A rendering of what it will look like should be available later next month. Don't expect the old building to come crashing down. They're taking it apart piece by piece. "We decided to go with the chipping method instead of the implosion because it's on the intersection and a school is nearby. We wanted to go a safer route. Even though it's the most expensive route," he said.
Haimov said in about 2 months, the building should be completely gone. And by sometime in the fall, we could see groundbreaking for the new hotel and convention center. Haimov said he's still speaking to hotel companies to determine what brand it will be.