Union Fair Demolition Derby

By: FlyDownsideUp

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Union Fair Demolition Derby - Video

2014 Truro Demolition derby night two

By: Laureen MacDonald

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2014 Truro Demolition derby night two - Video

Last call has arrived for Station Squares east warehouse.

By Monday, it will be heavy equipment, not pulsating dance music, rattling the rafters at the longtime night spot that at one time or another housed the likes of Whim, Hooters, Saddle Ridge, Matrix, the Pittsburgh Sports Garden, Woodsons All-Star Grille and Margarita Mamas.

Station Square owner Forest City Enterprise is demolishing the old red brick building as part of a plan to eventually add residential housing to the east side of its complex, now used almost exclusively for parking.

The Whim night club tried to block the demolition this spring, claiming the developer improperly terminated its lease. But Allegheny County Common Pleas Senior Judge Joseph James sided with Forest City, clearing the way for the razing.

Forest City had hoped to have the demolition completed by Sept. 1. But spokesman Jeff Linton said the company ran into delays. By the time the court battle with Whim ended, the bids for the razing had expired and Forest City was forced to get new ones. It also had to find a way to run temporary electrical hook-ups to the area.

These are just normal delays due to issues beyond our control, he said.

The demolition is now scheduled to start Monday, although Tim Schaaf, president of Schaaf Inc., the contractor, said work could begin this weekend.

He expects the razing to take four to six weeks., though Mr. Linton said it could run until mid-November. The east warehouse will not go out with a blast like Three Rivers Stadium. Instead, Schaaf will use heavy equipment such as excavators to tear down the building.

Mr. Schaaf, who was at the site Thursday, said there is nothing particularly challenging about the job. Its standard, he said, adding all asbestos and hazardous material had been removed in years past.

Schaaf is no stranger to the work. It has handled a number of demolitions in the past, including Showcase Cinemas West in Robinson, now the site of a car dealership.

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Demolition to begin at Station Squares east warehouse

Traditionalists launch PR offensive CHARLES ANDERSON AND ANNA PEARSON

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STRAIGHT-BACKED: Christ Church Cathedral from above in a photo taken for the Great Christchurch Building Trust, which is campaigning to save the building.

A group opposing the Christ Church Cathedral demolition has launched a public relations offensive to convince Kiwis the landmark is not ruined.

The six-week campaign by the Great Christchurch Building Trust (GCBT) includes extensive billboard and media advertising, featuring photographs of the cathedral taken from a helicopter.

GCBT co-chairman Jim Anderton said the photographs showed the cathedral in a different light - far from the ruin that many perceived it to be.

The trust had engaged focus groups and discovered many people believed the building was beyond repair when the reality was far different, he said.

"The hope is that we will be able to change opinion in the city from it's a ruin' to finding a way forward to repair it that would not cost the ratepayer anything."

Auckland-based public relations consultant Fleur Revell, of Impact PR, told The Press the campaign would bring the debate to life again but her advice would have been to "spell out the compelling reasons why the cathedral needs to stay in a more convincing way".

"The key messages on why it needs to stay need to be stated more clearly; instead there are simply a series of opinion pieces and supporting documents for the public to click on and read. This puts the onus back on the public to essentially do the research themselves," she said.

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Cathedral wars heat up

DEMOLITION work to take out buildings in the heart of Maroochydore to make way for a new city centre for the Sunshine Coast started today.

Mayor Mark Jamieson said the community would begin to see the immense size of the future Maroochydore City Centre within weeks.

"I don't think people realise the enormity of this project and that it is the only greenfield CBD development in Australia," Mr Jamieson said in a statement.

The council has acquired the Horton Park Golf Course for the new city which is dependent on private investment.

"We have a blank page - 53 hectares of land to transform into a future business centre, setting the Sunshine Coast apart from other locations across Australia.

"The Maroochydore City Centre will be instrumental in building and strengthening the economic and civic base of our region.

"This massive project, which will be delivered over the next 25 years, will provide a mix of residential, commercial, retail, civic and community uses to develop a thriving and vibrant business district and city centre, complementing and enhancing Maroochydore's existing business offering.

"The master planning process has also identified entertainment, exhibition and convention facilities, community facilities and meeting spaces, parklands, walkways, recreation areas and waterways and an enhanced public transport network.

"This is one of the most exciting chapters in Sunshine Coast's history and council, and the community as a whole, are fortunate to be part of this project from the very start, to see this rise from the ground in the coming years.

Demolition work at the Dolphin Centre, which used to house the office of controversial Coast MP and former Speaker Peter Slipper, began Wednesday.

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Demolition starts to make way for new Maroochydore

WEIRTON - The Weirton Building Enforcement Agency discussed completed and pending demolitions as well as one new hearing at its regular meeting Tuesday.

Rod Rosnick, chief code official, informed agency members that two single-family dwellings on Orchard Street and Hudson Avenue should be demolished within the next month. Pulice Demolition crews are set to begin on the Orchard Street house within the week.

A single-family home on Weir Avenue belonging to Charles Straum was inspected and found to have interior and exterior violations, including high grass and weeds, gutters falling or missing, siding missing, peeling or chipping paint, collapsing floors and ceilings and exposed electrical wires amongst other issues.

Code Official John Buffo recommended to move forward with bids for asbestos abatement and demolition, and agency members voted unanimously to accept the lowest bids.

A single-family dwelling owned by Timothy and Jessica Mrock on Adams Street has been on the agenda for more than a month to be considered for demolition.

Wells Fargo appealed the decision in order to determine whether the house will be rehabilitated or demolished. Rosnick said that City Attorney Vincent Gurrera is handling the appeal, which would go to circuit court if an agreement is not reached. Agency members voted unanimously to request that Gurrera pursue the matter and take it to court if necessary.

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Demolition program detailed

Demolition began Tuesday morning on an empty Grand Circus Park building that for decades was the offices of AAA of Michigan and more recently featured in a Kid Rock video.

The five-story building at 139 Bagley was the sole structure standing in a triangular block of land that is the site of a proposed $35 million to $40 million development that would include up to 250 new apartments.

Around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, excavators began to tear down the red brick wall with dozens of words painted in white, the largest of those words being CARE. In 2011, Kid Rock had the words painted on the building as the backdrop for a video for his song titled Care. By late Tuesday afternoon, most of the building was gone.

According to court filings, Kid Rock paid the building owners $5,000 to use the vacant structure in his video. Last year, the movie studio Paramount Pictures paid $35,000 to use the building for the filming of Transformers: Age of Extinction, according to court records.

The building is being demolished following a lawsuit filed by the city of Detroit against building owner Triple A Ventures. The city argued the building was in such bad condition that it was a public nuisance, according to court records.

Two weeks ago, a Wayne County Circuit Court judge agreed with the city and ordered the building be taken down.

The building used to house the offices of AAA of Michigan from 1926 until it was damaged in a 2005 fire, according to court records.

The empty land surrounding the building is controlled by the city of Detroit. In March, Farmington Hills-based Village Green Holding LLC unveiled plans for its Statler City Apartments project. Based on renderings, the projects footprint will take up the entire block. In addition to the apartments, the Statler City project would also include ground-floor retail, underground parking and a large electronic screen facing Grand Circus Park. Village Green owns or manages more than 130 properties in 13 states, including the Detroit City and Renaissance City apartments downtown.

Village Green and the citys Detroit Economic Growth Corp. are in the process of negotiating a development agreement. If things go as planned, the project could be finished in 2016.

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Demolition begins on Detroit building featured in Kid Rock video

The would-be developer of a historic Dunedin warehouse has threatened to try to demolish the building if he is not granted consent to convert part of it into apartments.

But an international steel manufacturer based next to the building says if consent is given for the 24 apartments, the result could be the closure of the foundry and the loss of 39 jobs.

A Dunedin City Council panel yesterday started considering an application from Russell Lund to convert the top floor of the Loan and Mercantile building, in the city's industrial waterfront area.

More submissions on the negative impact of residential encroachment on the industrial area are expected from other businesses and the Otago Chamber of Commerce today, as the hearing continues.

During the 90-minute delivery of his submission - to Crs Andrew Noone, David Benson-Pope and Lee Vandervis - developer Mr Lund referenced Richard Nixon and the Bible, called the Chamber of Commerce, which opposes his plans, ''a disgrace'', and made emotional statements about the national significance of the building and the financial commitment he had made to it to date.

He would reluctantly accept consent conditions of a ''no complaints covenant'' on the apartments' titles and mechanical ventilation, so residents could close windows and still have air circulating, as ways to manage potential issues with noise - the fundamental concern of city planners and submitters who opposed his plans.

But Mr Lund reminded the panel he had a legal right to make a viable income from his building.

''To make this 100% clear: if this application is declined, I could seek, via the courts, to have this fabulous (DCC's term) building demolished the very next day, and without doubt, whatsoever, consent would be granted,'' he wrote in his submission, which he read to the panel.

''Our application would be very brief,'' Mr Lund said.

''... the council in the planning report have made our case for us by confirming the building has been empty for 40 years and functionally obsolete and there is no other viable economic use.

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Demolition threatened; job loss possibility raised

Baldwin, WI (WEAU ) -- A church that's been up more than 100-years is coming down. Demolition began this weekend on Peace Lutheran church in Baldwin.

The tear down comes after members of the church voted earlier this summer to demolish the so called "Red Church" citing safety concerns and the cost of repairs.

Earlier this summer protestors gathered to boycott the demolition of what they called "a landmark".

After 109 years, the Red Church is coming down.

"We were all sad to see the church come down, but it had served its purpose, so we could move on," says Dorothy Larson, a member of Peace Lutheran since 1972.

"It was emotional but again, it has served us well and it's served many, many people, says Dorthoy who was present during the start of demolition on Friday, August 15th.

Pastor John Hanson says the demolition of the structure is mostly due to safety concerns. He says a 60 pound brick fell off the roof one day, and questions what would have happened if someone had been standing there.

Hanson says the decision to take down the church was a difficult one, and a lengthy process but that the demolition isn't taking very long, due in part to the volunteers that are coming together to be a part of the churchs final days.

We thought it would be done best by the people who love the church and utilize their skills, which were skills in carpentry, plumbing, electricity," says Hanson.

Hanson says the congregation is thankful nobody has been hurt by the crumbling structure. He says the space will now be utilized and honored.

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Demolition begins on "Red Church"

Hebron, occupied West Bank - Sobbing, Ghada Qawasmeh stares at her destroyed home, a two-story stone villa the family built over the course of nine years. The mother of seven is inconsolable, thinking of her husband, Hussam, who is now in an Israeli prison. "This is collective punishment," she says. "What did I or my children do?"

Before dawn on Monday, Israeli troops destroyed the Qawasmeh family's house in Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli officials said the demolition was carried out as punishment for Hussam Qawasmeh's alleged involvement in the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli settler teens in June, andcame after Israel's supreme court affirmed the army's position.

Last month, Israel accused three men of being behind the disappearance and subsequent death of the Israeli youths, who were hitchhiking from a Jewish settlement near Hebron: Hussam and Marwan Qawasmeh, and Amer Abu Eisha.

Abu Eisha's family home was also demolished on Monday, while Marwan Qawasmeh's was sealed off with cement.

"We are determined in bringing the ruthless murderers of Gilad, Eyal and Naftali to justice. The demolition of the terrorists' homes conveys a clear message to terrorists and their accomplices that there is a personal price to pay when engaging in terror and carrying out attacks against Israelis," said Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesperson, in a press statement.

While Marwan and Abu Eisha are in hiding, the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, said Hussam admitted to receiving funds for the operation from Hamas operatives in Gaza. But Hamas officials have denied any involvement, and so far, no evidence against the three men has been divulged.

The demolition of the terrorists' homes conveys a clear message to terrorists and their accomplices that there is a personal price to pay when engaging in terror and carrying out attacks against Israelis.

- Peter Lerner, Israeli army spokesperson

Ghada also maintains that her husband is innocent, that the real killers are still at large, and that destroying her home is merely an act of revenge. "By demolishing the house theyll destroy my life and my childrens. Theres a million ways [to deter attacks] without destroying peoples lives," said Ghada, whohas now moved in with her in-laws.

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Israeli demolitions 'collective punishment'