Will Miami Beach's Russian & Turkish Baths Ever Reopen?

For more than 40 years, the Russian & Turkish Baths at 5445 Collins Ave. in Miami Beach were a retreat, exercise regime, and way of life where locals and tourists alike could take a shvitz or an icy plunge for an intense rejuvenation ritual.

The bathhouse inside the Castle Beach Club Condominiums closed earlier this year due to safety concerns. However, as with any institution in Miami Beach, there's always a healthy dose of speculation about a sudden closure.

In May, the bathhouse posted on its Facebook page: "Many of you write of your support… ready to support? Ready to ask the association of the Castle Beach Club why the bathhouse is the only business closed in the building?"

The Miami Herald's Martin Vassolo reported that the condo association had hired an engineering firm to perform the building's 50-year recertification and found damage in the garage below the bathhouse and that emergency shoring was installed to support the structure. However, according to the bathhouse's owner, Dorina Tuberman-Solon, there was no safety risk, and she had hired an engineer and lawyers to aid in efforts to reopen.

"If you go into the basement, there is not one drop of water coming from the bathhouse," Tuberman-Solon told the Herald.

Tuberman-Solon did not respond to New Times' numerous requests for comment.

Many believe the baths will remain closed permanently, with locals mourning the loss of another Miami Beach spot that seemingly catered more to residents than party-hard tourists.

Club Space doorman Alan T (AKA Alan Tibaldeo) has been a patron of the Russian & Turkish Baths for decades, frequently visiting before and after his long weekend shifts at the downtown venue.

"I've been going there for so many years," Tibaldeo tells New Times. "I brought everyone there, and I would see everyone there. I made a lot of great friends. I made a point to bring everyone there. The first thing I thought when people would come to Miami was to bring them to the baths."

Patrons used to pay for either a guest pass or membership where they could spend unlimited time and take advantage of the myriad services while maneuvering among ornate rooms and marble busts. They would start at the jacuzzi with its grotto-like aesthetic, followed by the sauna room to sweat it out before the showstopper: the near-freezing cold plunge. Guests could also take to the cold or infrared rooms, get a Swedish massage, or enter the banya, a Russian steam bath, to finish.

The Miami Beach spot is an outpost of the Russian & Turkish Baths in New York City that has been in operation since 1892, creating an East Coast link for people moving to and from New York to Miami.

"It was a cultural phenomenon," says Kenny Percy, former owner of South Beach nightclub Amika. "Being born in Ukraine, the bathhouse is a big cultural deal. The first time I went was in New York. The banya for Eastern and Northern Europeans was a social entity. It was where you went after a weekend to purify yourself."

Percy recalls first visiting the South Beach location at 13 years old with his father. Kenny believes the baths will stay closed.

"The original deal was that the commercial lease deals in the building had utilities paid for by the residents," he explains. "There weren't any commercial submeters; it was all part of one big utility bill. So it would be very difficult to reproduce that deal. Plus, from what I understand, I was under the impression that it was going to be demolished."

"It was a big social gathering place for everyone," he adds. "It's very difficult to keep something that had a certain spirit, and there is something to be said for its history. It makes a difference. You don't always want the newest, shiniest thing."

Jane Castro, who Tibaldeo introduced to the baths, recalls it as an off-the-beaten-path place. You wouldn't go there to spend hundreds of dollars on some White Lotus-esque spa cleanse.

"I think I went for the first time in 2013," she says. "The best thing about the place is the hot tub. It was like a hundred million degrees, and you put the salt on your back. I would turn into a prune — I didn't care. It's an establishment. It's something that is a part of Miami. It's a time capsule. It was a cheap and private place. Instead of going to the Standard or those types of places, we have something more underground and cool. It's a time warp."

Bathhouses are often stigmatized as grimy, sexualized nests or used exclusively by burly Russian men who pay to get whipped with oak branches. And while some people wouldn't go there if their lives depended on it, others saw it as a refuge. Tibaldeo viewed the hub as a place for anyone to spend an afternoon.

"It was never meant for bougie or highfalutin crowd. It was a working-class establishment," he adds. "I mean, having a banya in your house was for people who laid bricks and used their bodies. It wasn't for a rich kid to clear out their pores."