By Elizabeth Nickelaid
The Everglades Hotel in downtown
Miami was a grande dame with a checkered past. The story begins in 1926, when the hotel opened after being built for $3 million. How the Everglades went from that illustrious beginning to its eventual end as a mountain of rubble is a tale of storm, war and an unscrupulous suitor.
Grand Opening
Coral Gables' Biltmore Hotel sprang from the same inspiration as the Everglades.
The Everglades Hotel, like several of its Miami contemporaries, was patterned on the Giralda Tower in Seville, Spain. At its opening, the Everglades was the biggest, most lavish hotel in the city. Its rooftop banquet space gave visitors unrivaled and unprecedented views of Biscayne Bay. The Miami Herald called the hotel "majestic."
The First Test
The hotel weathered its first storm early, as a damaging hurricane pounded Miami in September 1926 and flooded the ground floor. It became a temporary refuge for residents who lost their homes to the hurricane, which killed more than 370 people and injured more than 6,000. Having survived that disaster, the Everglades Hotel prospered for the next quarter-century.
Two Wars
During World War II, the Everglades was called into service once again to house the displaced; this time it was sailors in Miami for training. As the Navy relinquished its lease on the hotel, another war was brewing. Hotels were springing up in Miami beach, with the sand at their doorsteps. It became hard for downtown hotels like the Everglades to compete.
During this era, the first alteration was made to the hotel's classic Mediterranean Revival style. An antenna was erected on top of its regal cupola, making Miami's first TV transmission possible, but also giving the Everglades an architectural black eye. Worse was to come.
Teamsters Property
In 1959, struggling to survive with new competition, the hotel's owners turned to Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa, who took out a mortgage on the place and loaned millions for a renovation. With no thought to historic preservation, the owners and their new partner lopped off much of the charm that remained, removing the hotel's cupola to make way for a rooftop pool and nightclub.
Soon the hotel's fortunes sank further, and the Teamsters bought it outright. Hoffa was eventually imprisoned for taking kickbacks in the Everglades deal, among others, then disappeared upon his release. The hotel, in the meantime, continued to decline and the union sold it in 1978, a mere shadow of its former beauty.
The End
After limping along as a budget hotel for a couple of decades, the Everglades closed its doors for the last time in 2003. With its architectural details stripped away and its glory gone, the hotel was unable to attract a buyer interested in preserving it. A Mexican development company bought the property with the intention of building condos on the site. Explosives imploded the historic Everglades Hotel in less than 20 seconds on Jan. 23, 2005.
About the Author:
Elizabeth Nickelaid is an editor and writer with more than 20 years' experience in the newspaper industry. She has won state and national awards for headline writing and has collaborated with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Wake Forest University.
