With excavators and a bulldozer standing by, the developer planning apartments at the long-abandoned Ames headquarters in Rocky Hill has begun environmental remediation after buying the property for $2.3 million.

Were all eager for this. Theyre telling us they can do demolition in four months after remediation is done, and then start construction in the spring of 23, Mayor Lisa Marotta said Friday.

Rocky Hill struggled for years to find a major retailer or office management company interested in reusing the 250,000-square-foot building after Ames went out of business in 2002.

But the building and its 12 acres just deteriorated over the years; the massive parking lot is buckled and riddled with weeds, the office complex itself is marred by graffiti. Several years ago, anonymous YouTubers filmed inside and showed moldy walls, exposed wires, collapsing drop ceilings and decades-old work manuals scattered across floors.

The former Ames headquarters. Photograph by Mark Mirko | mmirko@courant.com (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant)

A lot of people in Rocky Hill have memories from here so many people worked at Ames, said Marotta, who spent a summer after high school as a data entry clerk in a third-floor office.

There were hundreds of people here, and they frequented the businesses and restaurants. They enjoy the stories of the past, but theyre really happy to see something new coming, Marotta said Friday in a tour of the site.

At its height, Ames had more than 55,000 employees. Its Rocky Hill headquarters housed as many as 1,000 merchandisers, accountants, logistics managers and others.

Despite a devastating 1991 bankruptcy, Ames still had 327 stores and more than 21,000 employees in 2002 when it announced it was going out of business. It was the last of the once-powerful New England discount department store chains; Caldor and Bradlees had already shut down.

The headquarters it left behind had once been a source of civic pride, but became a high-profile center of blight in the following years.

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Hamden-based Belfonti Companies LLC this month paid $2.3 million for the property, and plans to build 213 apartments one of the largest new residential projects in central Connecticut.

Rocky Hill wants the new residential complex to be the springboard for a larger-scale redevelopment that will stretch to the Connecticut River. The town has a history of being car-centric, and the vision for this section is heavy on wide sidewalks and bike paths to generate more of a community center feel.

The Main Street frontage will have a restaurant and commercial development, and Marotta sees it as part of a new village green and town center for Rocky Hill. The town expects to close the very end of Dividend Road so it can expand the small, triangular green there.

Gov. Ned Lamonts administration last year put $500,000 toward the environmental cleanup of the 1965 building and surrounding property. Marotta said the public-private partnership nature of the new development was key to starting progress.

Belfonti plans 93 one-bedroom apartments and 120 two-bedroom units, all at market rate except for 10% that will be reserved as affordable housing.

The companys plans will include about 11,000 square feet of commercial office space and 10,000 square feet of retail or restaurant space. There will also be a pocket park on the property.

Marotta said the town is looking to extend a new streetscape with sidewalks down Glastonbury Avenue, creating pedestrian access to the waterfront. The Ames property is about a 2-minute drive from the dock for the Glastonbury ferry, and the new pedestrian amenities will go a long way toward creating a town center thats linked to the waterfront, she said.

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Demolition grows near for hulking, abandoned Ames headquarters in Rocky Hill - Hartford Courant

ESPN Club at Disneys Boardwalk is now being demolished, after permanently closing earlier this year.

There are construction vehicles parked behind rolling planters on the boardwalk.

There is a crane and cherry picker.

The ESPN Club sign remains (for now), but crew members were removing other decorations.

They have placed tarp on the ground to keep the planks of the boardwalk protected.

As we watched, crews removed a light-up arch from the roof.

The crew members in the cherry picker removed the arch and secured it to the crane straps.

They lowered it to the ground.

It is set to become The Cake Bake Shopby Gwendolyn Rogers sometime next year. The BoardWalk Bakery will also close and become a sandwich shop.

How do you feel about the closure of ESPN Club at Disneys Boardwalk? Let us know in the comments.

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Demolition Begins on the ESPN Club at Disney's Boardwalk - WDW News Today

Stop & Shop contractors began the demolition of Vineyard Havens former Golden Dragon Restaurant on Wednesday. The Water Street building, which is immediately adjacent to Stop & Shop, and had been used for storage by the supermarket, was previously deemed unsafe following town inspections, and an order was given to either make the place safe or to raze it.

Stop & Shop opted to take the building down. Midday Wednesday, Lawrence Lynch workers in hardhats and Day-Glo greenish yellow jerseys started carefully removing large glass windows on the second floor. The town previously cordoned off the sidewalk by the building, first with traffic sawhorses and plastic barriers, and later with concrete blocks. A traffic officer stood on the scene Wednesday, guiding pedestrians away from the demolition site.

After its time as a restaurant, the building was acquired by Stop & Shop, and used as a warehouse.

Wednesday afternoon, the Tisbury Police Department released an advisory that Water Streets right lane in the direction of Five Corners will be closed from Wednesday through Friday.

Traffic will still be able to travel in both directions but please expect delays, the advisory stated.

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Demolition at Vineyard Haven Stop & Shop begins - Martha's Vineyard Times

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (WATE) Crews are preparing former research reactor facilities for demolition announced Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management is working with its clean-up contractor, UCOR, to change the landscape and environmental impact of the laboratory in the upcoming months. The demolition focuses on eliminating risks, clearing land for research, and enhancing access to a component of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

According to the UCOR media advisory, the crews are closing in on the final stages of deactivation inside two former research reactors, the Bulk Shielding Reactor (Building 3010) and the Low-Intensity Test Reactor (Building 3005). The Bulk Shielding Reactor was built in the 1950s to be used for studying radiation shielding and the Low-Intensity Test Reactor facility operated as a training facility from 1951-1968.

We have been working toward the demolition plan of 3010 and 3005 since 2018, said Kent Ridenour, UCORs ORNL reactors project manager. To finally see the end in sight is impressive knowing the accomplishments and the challenges we faced over the last four years, but the craft crews and support groups worked together to make it possible.

Before filling the pool at the Bulk Shielding Reactor with a concrete mixture, crews removed asbestos from the facility to prepare the area for demolition.

There has been a lot of work involved with getting these facilities ready for demolition, said Nathan Felosi, OREMs ORNL portfolio federal project director. Its rewarding to see how that work is paving the way for ORNLs central campus area to look much differently by the end of this year.

Similar projects have also begun in the Oak Ridge Research Reactor. It was built in 1955 and operated until 1987 as an isotope production and irradiation facility. It was defueled in 1989, but in recent years, the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management discovered a slow seep occurring in the reactor pool. The pool has been drained and crew have removed the highly irradiated components from the area.

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Former radioactive reactors in Oak Ridge prepped for demolition - WATE 6 On Your Side

WASHINGTON Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (all D-Md.)urged the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) to pause its plans to demolish the existing Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge until an independent review is conducted to determine the feasibility and cost of repurposing it for recreational use. The lawmakers requested an independent study to ensure that this is not a wasted opportunity to provide taxpayers with bicycling and pedestriantransportation options at acompetitive costor potentially lower cost than demolition.

With the work on the new Harry W. Nice/Thomas Mac Middleton Bridge across the Potomac River proceeding rapidly, we urge the State to reconsider plans to demolish the old bridge, and halt any immediate efforts to do so. These plans should not proceed until a study can be conducted on the feasibility as well as the financial and environmental costs and benefits of converting the old bridge to a non-motorized trail that could be used by pedestrians and bicyclists,the lawmakers said.

An independent study, conducted by an entity with experience in similar bridge repurposing projects, is in the taxpayers interest to ensure that we are not wasting an opportunity to provide bicycling and pedestrian transportation options at a competitive cost or potentially lower cost than demolition,they continued.Premature demolition would squander the opportunity to repurpose the bridge if it is in the taxpayer and communitys best interest. We strongly urge you to undertake this basic due diligence before moving forward on demolition.

The full letter can be readhereand below:

Dear Secretary Ports:

With the work on the new Harry W. Nice/Thomas Mac Middleton Bridge across the Potomac River proceeding rapidly, we urge the State to reconsider plans to demolish the old bridge, and halt any immediate efforts to do so. These plans should not proceed until a study can be conducted on the feasibility as well as the financial and environmental costs and benefits of converting the old bridge to a non-motorized trail that could be used by pedestrians and bicyclists.

The demolition cost estimates made by the Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) have ranged between $15 million and $23 million. Given that a new Environmental Analysis (EA) may now be necessary due to the modification of the demolition process to use explosives, which was not part of the original EA, an independent study to determine a common set of facts and costs would allow all parties the opportunity to consider the options for the use and ownership of the existing bridge.

An independent study, conducted by an entity with experience in similar bridge repurposing projects, is in the taxpayers interest to ensure that we are not wasting an opportunity to provide bicycling and pedestrian transportation options at a competitive cost or potentially lower cost than demolition. This study should include costs, safety and navigation impacts, and the potential economic and health benefits of alternative transportation and outdoor recreation uses. Premature demolition would squander the opportunity to repurpose the bridge if it is in the taxpayer and communitys best interest. We strongly urge you to undertake this basic due diligence before moving forward on demolition.

We would appreciate a response by July 22, 2022 regarding the States position and plans to secure an independent study and pause in demolition until this study is published.

Sincerely,

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US Senators Urge MDOT To Halt Demolition Of Nice Bridge, Study Recreational Reuse Options - Bay Net

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) The only part of the East End United Methodist Church on Holly Street in East Nashville still standing are the stairs leading up to what used to be the main entrance.

The church was badly damaged in the March 2020 tornado. Members tried everything to save the original sanctuary of the 115-year-old church, but they discovered it would have been too expensive and dangerous, considering it was no longer structurally sound.

A church committee voted to rebuild in the same location, and for months crews have been demolishing the parts of the building that withstood the storm. By Thursday, July 14, the demolition was nearly complete.

We were able to move forward with trying to do a new plan for new construction; a building that does honor what was here before, but also significantly upgrades the accessibility of the building and just makes us take advantage of some of the advances in construction that have happened in the last century, the Rev. Scott Marshall-Kimball, the East End United Methodist Church pastor, said.

The new building will closely resemble the old; however, the design must be presented to the Metro Historic Zoning Commission for approval, which will likely happen in August, according to Marshall-Kimball.

Once approved and the church receives its funding from insurance and FEMA, crews can begin rebuilding the structure on Holly Street.

This church means a lot to the congregation, and its been their home for a really long time, but its also been a vital and wonderful piece of the community that just makes peoples days and lives better for its existence, so thats why we decided we really needed to be here at home on the corner of 13th and Holly Street, Marshall-Kimball said.

If all goes according to plan, he added, the church will reopen Christmas 2023.

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Demolition of East Nashville church destroyed in 2020 tornado nearly complete - WKRN News 2

BATON ROUGE - Jefferson Terrace Elementary is being torn down. It's fenced off, but the demolition contractor says that didn't stop thieves from breaking in and stealing thousands of dollars worth of his tools and other equipment earlier this week.

Five suspects were arrested, but his valuable items have not yet been found.

Tim Mercer, the president of the Jefferson Terrace Civic Association, says the school board hasn't told him what they plan on doing with the property.

"It hasn't been very secure. People have been jumping the fences," Mercer said.

Mercer says residents can't wait until the school is demolished. He says they've complained, and this isn't the building's first break-in.

"It has been broken into once before. It's just an invite for people to come in," he said.

The civic association president says the school was closed two years ago after another bigger one was built nearby.

The old elementary school is located right next to a neighborhood BREC park, and Mercer says what residents want is to use the school property to expand this recreational facility.

"I think they would love to have something like that," he said.

Playground equipment that hasn't been used in two years still sits at the school, only separated from the park by a fence. Mercer says they don't want just another park but a unique, one-of-a-kind facility.

"They could put special needs playgrounds or something that would be kinda unique for this area because I don't think there's one here," Mercer said.

The demolition of the school is scheduled to be complete this September.

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Thieves steal thousands in tools, supplies from abandoned school during long-awaited demolition - WBRZ

No sooner than the Claret Jug will have been presented to the 150th champion golfer of the year than the clubhouse of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club will be turned into a building site. There was vocal opposition within the club to an extensive redevelopment that will cost 11m but modernisation ultimately won the day. Members must clear their lockers spare slacks et al by the time of the autumn meeting. The building will treble in size, primarily on account of underground works.

Fear relates to a potential demolition job on the Old Course itself. The R&A would object to claims it has procrastinated over matters of driving distance but the fact remains golf is yet to properly find a balance between enjoying the athletic prowess of Rory McIlroy and limiting the ease with which the worlds best can overpower historic venues. Many of them, indeed, are unfit for professional competition on the basis of being deemed too short.

St Andrews clings on but the coming days will demonstrate the trickery largely relating to pin positions required to keep scoring within the realms of the sensible. Gone are the days whereby rounds of 91 and 88 see Tom Kidd, 1873 would be sufficient for Open glory. Kidd claimed 11 for his efforts. Sundays champion will pocket $2.5m (2.09m).

To traditionalists it would be utter sacrilege if rounds in the region of 60 are posted in this major. They will reach for the smelling salts. The forecast for only a gentle breeze has fuelled discussion around this very topic. Could the poor, defenceless Old Course be battered into submission? Good luck with that, insisted the R&As chief executive, Martin Slumbers, when asked about his level of fear that an Open competitor could shoot 59.

We have spent three years getting this golf course to where we are today, Slumbers said. The one thing Ive learned in the last seven years is you need two things to be happening in Open week. One is very skilled green-keeping staff and very hardworking staff. Were privileged to have that team here.

The second bit is luck and luck with Mother Nature. I think the golf course is exactly where we want it to be. If you go out there today, its a lot firmer than it was yesterday. Weve been holding the greens back because we had very hot weather early part of this week. We wanted to make sure that the grass was good come Sunday.

The fairways are firmer than the greens and theyre running really hard. Mother Nature at the moment is not destined to give us any rain and is probably not going to give us as much wind as we like. But weve got other ways of being able to set up the golf course. And my philosophy has always been I want to set up the golf course fair, challenging, and let these guys show us how good they are.

Now, let me make a comment about 59. That is 13-under par around this course. Theres 7,300 yards. Its got greens that are running at 101/2 to 11. Its got fairways where the ball is bouncing 50 yards and more if it catches the downslope. Thirteen under par around that, Ill tell you what, if someone shoots that, I will be the first person on the 18th green to shake their hand because they have played outstanding golf.

Slumbers point is fair. The sight of players cracking drives to within 25 yards of the green at the iconic 17th is one thing but the potential for wild breaks from turf harder than a coffin nail is a live one.

McIlroy compared this tournament week to a game of chess. No player has managed to reach checkmate against the field with more aplomb than Tiger Woods. Yet this looks the latest test of how Woodss ailing body can handle tournament play rather than a viable opportunity for victory. A third Woods Open success at St Andrews would be the most remarkable of all.

McIlroys underlying motivation is twofold. He missed a defence of the Claret Jug here in 2015 because of injury. There is also a desire to win a fifth major before the wait for such a feat which would tie Seve Ballesteros rumbles into a ninth year. It would be a preposterous scenario for one so talented. This week there has been a swagger in McIlroys step.

Albeit played at a time of year when the venue is more receptive, the Dunhill Links Championship offers some clues as to whom may prevail at St Andrews. Tyrrell Hatton, Danny Willett, Shane Lowry are worthy of respect in that context. Jon Rahm has limited experience on the Old Course but the fairytale of emulating Ballesteros, his compatriot, burns strongly in the heart of the man from northern Spain.

The American challenge will be supposedly spearheaded by Scottie Scheffler, the world No 1, who tied eighth in his Open debut of 12 months ago. Jordan Spieth, who should really have won at St Andrews in 2015, was second to Collin Morikawa at Royal St Georges. Morikawas defence of the Claret Jug is as low key as has been evident in recent times, a matter linked in no small part by the all-consuming noise attached to LIV Golf.

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There would be stifled laughter should one of the LIV renegades Dustin Johnson or Louis Oosthuizen seem the most likely step forward to receive the Claret Jug on Sunday evening. The R&A would never say it, but this is an outcome they would rather avoid for all manner of reasons.

This week is a celebration of the incredible history of golfs original championship and the remarkable impact it has had on the sport we all love, Slumbers said. Admirable in theory, of course, but the business and playing of golf are unrecognisable even from when Woods first prevailed in front of the old clubhouse in 2000. The scale with which modern method can trump historic nuance could send shivers down spines.

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St Andrews clings on amid fears of demolition job on Old Course at Open - The Guardian

The historical significance of the building that currently serves as LP Waters Early Childhood Center but was formerly Carver High School, Greenvilles all-Black high school during segregationwas discussed at length at a visioning meeting held by Greenville ISD on Tuesday.

The school district is using these meetings to elicit community input on facility planning.

Citing problems with the 72-year-old buildings foundation and several other issues, such as small classroom sizes and noncompliance with current Americans with Disabilities Act standards, the proposed plan presented by the district involves demolition of the building after a new early childhood center is constructed adjacent to it.

In response to the proposed project, multiple members of the Greenville community urged the district to preserve at least part of the building as a tribute to Carver High Schools historical significance in the cultural identity of Greenvilles African-American community.

Carver is historical for us. There should be something that could be done, said one of the attendees. A lot of people especially dont want to see the gym taken away."

If we take Carver away, then we have nothing left as a reminder of our communitys history, she added.

Sympathetic to what was being said, Greenville ISD School Board member Anne Haynes vouched for Carver High Schools place in Greenvilles social and cultural history.

One thing we have to remember is that Carver was part of the cultural identity of Greenville as a wholenot just the black community, Haynes said. The football games used to not just draw Blacks, but Whites and Hispanics came too. It really brought the community together. It became a place for everyone.

A few others in attendance also brought up how a lot of the records, memorabilia and other remnants of Greenvilles former all-Black schools were lost after integration, and they didnt want to lose the former Carver High School as well.

Back in 1969-70 (after Carver High School closed in 1967), the question came up in the district to tear it down, recollected another attendee. For progress, sometimes its good to tear things down, but for a segment of the community its a heart thing, because after integration, all the medals, trophies and other parts of that history went away, and we want to have something left.

In response to the concerns, GISD Supt. Sharon Boothe reassured the audience that the point of the discussion [was] to discuss options, and that that is one of the reasons why the school board has not called another bond election yet.

In connection with the history of the school, two Carver High School alumniDemetrous Nixon and Brenda Hueyhave spent almost a decade compiling information and writing a book about the history of the school, titled From Roots to Remembrance: The History of Carver High School.

We were really close to being finished with it, but COVID stopped us in our tracks, Nixon told the Herald-Banner. Well be working on getting it published soon."

"I was part of the last graduating class at Carver, and we started this after we realized that it was almost impossible to find anything about Carver High School on the internet. It was as if the school never existed," Nixon explained. "So, Brenda Huey and I have been spending all this time seeking out records, photos and other information, making sure that what we have is accurate, and writing the book to make sure that this history isn't lost."

Please Note: A story detailing Greenville ISD's updated proposed replacements for LP Waters and Greenville Middle School will appear in Saturday's issue of the Herald-Banner.

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

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Its a heart thing: Proposed demolition of former Carver High School saddens many in community - Herald-Banner

In the prophecy foretold by science fiction movie Demolition Man, Taco Bell will win the fast food wars. What did this great conflict look like?Did it involve condiments, or more insidious subterfuge? Actually, it was something much simpler: opponents turning the action movie down.

As writer Daniel Waters recalls, it was a matter of who approved the product placement first, and some bigger companies werent keen. To be quite honest, my original draft was Burger King, and then Burger King scoffed and McDonalds scoffed, he told Vulture. When Taco Bell came around, it was like, Of course! Taco Bell! The greatest thing thats ever happened to this movie.

Waters was very happy about the arrangement, because hes a Taco Bell person, so much so he contends the fast food chain and Demolition Man were kindred spirits. We have great Mexican food out here in LA, he says. People are like, Oh, Taco Bell is not real Mexican food. Im going, Yes, we know. Much like Demolition Man, its its own genre.

Starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes, many parts of Demolition Man has been heavily memed over the years. Taco Bell, obviously, since fast food has only gotten faster, but then there are the video screens looking a bit like Zoom calls, Snipess over-the-top performance, and the three shells.

Marco Brambilla directed the thriller movie, about vigilante criminal Simon Phoenix (Snipes) getting cryogenically frozen for his crimes in 1996. The cop who takes him in, John Spartan (Stallone), gets the same for reckless endangerment. In 2032, Simon is freed and goes on a rampage, and John is released to catch him. Sandra Bullock co-stars is a very, very 90s movie.

Demolition Man is full of character, andTaco Bell is a part of that. Somehow, we dont think Burger King wouldve had the same impact.

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Taco Bell was the greatest thing to ever happen to Demolition Man - The Digital Fix