Demolition Site

This News Sentinel demolition site is in a whole new phase now. Since the new year, they have been going after it, and just about all the building is down now. There is a space about the size of a football field or bigger that is covered with mounds of rubble: dirt, concrete, and steel. The only vertical things standing are sections of three walls. One wall is untouched; it fronts a row of buildings and is only separated from them by a alley. That's the precarious spot, and the crew now is trying to attack this wall without sending it down the wrong way into those other buildings. The other walls border fairly major streets, but they look like they can be pushed in more readily than that third wall.

I wish I had recorded a photo log of the demolition. It would have been neat to see the progress (or regress, perhaps) of the project. It is hard to overestimate just how close my view of the action is. My office sits literally right along the line of that third wall, and I am maybe twenty yards from the building. My view offers perfect sight down into the morass of rubble, as the height where I am at is just right to see down inside. If there was ever a perfect eyewitness spot, this is it. I've seen the destruction happen day after day.

What happened just now is that the backhoe or whatever it is pulled down the wall right into the pile. It was pretty impressive. Now there is a big breach in that section of the wall.

If you are ever downtown, you should stop by and check it out. Definitely an interesting sight.