Macon’s skyline dramatically changed on New Year’s Day as the old Ramada Hotel, a 16-story building opened in 1970, was imploded exactly nine hours into the new year. The implosion was viewed by a crowd of community members, Macon-Bibb County commissioners and Macon-Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller, all gathered on Coleman Hill, by Mercer’s School of Law campus.
In a little less than 15 seconds, the former hotel fell and a cloud of dust rose in its place. The implosion elicited cheers from the crowd of about 450 people, many of whom had arrived an hour or earlier to find the right viewing spot. Buzzing from about half a dozen drones could be heard in the minutes leading up to, and after the implosion.
Scott Mitchell, owner of the coffee and pastry shop Sweet Eleanor's as well as The Bohemian Den on Cherry Street in Macon, said that he attended the implosion Wednesday morning. Mitchell says the area, now covered with shards of glass, twisted rebar and cement bound for the landfill, is a "clean slate" for the city. His businesses were not physically damaged by the detonation and the rush of people leaving Coleman Hill and entering downtown required him to open his coffee shop three hours earlier than expected - a welcome problem to have, he said.
When it was originally built, the city hoped that the hotel would be a gateway of sorts with its proximity to I-75 and I-16. Elvis Presley once occupied a room, the Jackson 5, too, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. However, there were never enough guests to keep the hotel financially viable, and there was often a revolving door of ownership groups. Macon-Bibb County had trouble getting the hotel under its control, but in late 2023, the deal was finalized.
Miller’s office has been at the forefront of the implosion efforts, advocating for the building’s destruction for years, eventually purchasing the building for about $4.5 million from a company that bought the property in a bankruptcy auction, according to the AJC. On Wednesday, Miller pushed the button to ignite the roughly 900 pounds of explosives.
Construction crews are now clearing the rubble left behind, though work to mitigate the pile in the weeks leading up to the implosion was done to gut the building of virtually everything but its concrete pillars. It has yet to be determined what will fill the space left behind at 1st Street and Walnut Street, but Miller told reporters on Wednesday that it would not be empty for long.
Mitchell sits on the board of Main Street Macon, an offshoot of NewTown Macon, whose most recent report claimed responsibility for more than $100 million in private and public investment in downtown Macon for the 2022 calendar year. The demolition will be a boon for the city, Mitchell said, and he hopes to see a conference center built in its stead.
Gabriel Kopp '26 is majoring in Journalism and Law and Public Policy at Mercer University. He has written for The Cluster since he started at Mercer, and currently works as co-Editor-in-Chief. When he isn't studying, he enjoys going for runs and reading The New York Times or the AJC while sipping coffee.
