WORCESTER The Central Building on Main Street has received a temporary reprieve from the wrecking ball.

The Historical Commission tonight unanimously rejected a petition filed by the building's owner for a waiver to the city's demolition-delay ordinance.

Commission members said the owner, 332 Main St. Associates, a group controlled by the Krock family, did not make an adequate case to support the need for a waiver based on the grounds that keeping the building up for another year would create an undue economic hardship.

As a result, the eight-story office building, which was built around 1925, will remain standing at 322-332 Main St. for one year from the date when the application for the demolition delay waiver was filed (November 2012) with the Historical Commission.

After that time, the owner will be able to raze the building.

The demolition-delay ordinance puts a one-year hold on historic properties to give owners time to find a buyer who would be able to preserve the building or come up with another reuse for it.

The ordinance allows owners to seek a waiver to the one-year delay based on the grounds of economic hardship or that the demolition would not be detrimental to the historical or architectural resources of the city.

Gary S. Brackett, a lawyer representing 332 Main St. Associates, said the owner is facing an economic hardship because the building is vacant and is not generating any rental income. In comparison, the building took in more than $431,000 in rental income in 2010 when it had tenants, he said.

Meanwhile, the owner still has to pay more than $150,000 annually to maintain and heat the building, as well as preserve its fire suppression system, in addition to more than $90,000 in property taxes.

The building, which has nearly 84,400 square feet of space, is assessed at $2.9 million; it had been assessed at $1.4 million two years ago.

Continued here:
Building owner can't expedite demolition

A group of elected leaders this week will send a letter to state environmental regulators asking that they delay demolition of the Asarco smokestacks because of environmental and safety concerns.

The trustee in charge of the project said his team has already addressed most of the concerns and the rest will be addressed in advance of the planned April 13 demolition.

U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, state Sen. Jose Rodriguez and state Rep. Marisa Marquez, all El Paso Democrats, on Thursday confirmed that they planned to sign the letter to be sent to Bryan W. Shaw, chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

County Judge Veronica Escobar and city Rep. Susie Byrd also said they would sign the letter, which asks whether risks associated with dropping the stacks have been adequately addressed.

"It has now come to our attention that serious, additional questions regarding the long-term environmental and health consequences of the planned demolition and burial of the stacks are being raised," a draft of the letter says.

The letter comes after a group wanting to save the 800-foot and 600-foot smokestacks for historical reasons apparently lost its battle battle in December.

The Asarco smelter shut down in 2000 after a century of operating as a smelter -- and processing quantities of dangerous toxins as lead, arsenic and cadmium. Residents fought to shut down the smelter, but preservationists want to keep the stacks, saying they're

The letter that lawmakers will send environmental officials cites health and safety concerns that add to the preservationists' arguments.

Among them, it asks what contaminants are in the stacks.

Roberto Puga, the trustee in charge of cleaning up the Asarco site, on Thursday said his team is undertaking additional tests to analyze them.

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Officials seek delay on Asarco demolition

Construction crews are currently demolishing facilities no longer needed on post and will recycle and reuse the leftover materials for future projects, according to the Directorate of Public Works.

A contracting company began razing the old buildings Feb. 1 and the projects should be complete by the end of March.

The facilities slated for destruction include the Army and Air Force Exchange Service gas station on 12th street, a warehouse on Gunston Road and the former Prime Power Engineering School on the corner of Pohick and Theote Roads.

DPW will collect salvageable concrete and metal to use for projects such as asphalt paving, pipe installation and parking lot installation, according to Carl Crump, DPW construction inspection estimator.

We reuse here at Fort Belvoir. We dont send useable materials to landfills, Crump said. This practice prevents landfills from filling up and its less expensive for the government.

The reason behind each facilitys end varies.

The old AAFES gas station was replaced by a gas station on the corner of Pohick and Gunston roads. The garrison hasnt used the warehouse since strong winds tore a portion of the roof off during the Derecho storm in July 2012. The 249th Engineer Battalion once used the prime power engineering school but the unit moved into a different facility on post.

The estimated cost for each demolition project is: $165,000 for the warehouse, $221,000 for the prime power school and $199,000 for the gas station. The current plan is to turn the land into grass areas, but this is subject to change, according to Crump.

Theyre going back to nature until a decision is made to put something on those lands, Crump said.

Contractors are sending any potentially salvageable materials to the Fort Belvoir Recycling center for processing.

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Demolition projects increase post recyclable resources

CINCINNATI - The clock is ticking for the 19 th century building that houses Christys and Lenhardts in Clifton Heights.

A demolition permit dated March 1 seeks permission from the city of Cincinnati to raze the popular restaurant and bar near University of Cincinnatis campus.

Developers from Gilbane Development Co. of Providence, R.I., and Optimus LLC from St. Louis want to buy the property and build a multi-level student-housing development on the site.

At a meeting in February, neighborhood residents asked developers if the 132-year-old building could be saved as part of the project. But developers said then that they didnt think that would work.

Before the CUF Neighborhood Association met with the developers, however, the group already had filed an application with the city to seek historic designation for the building.

The restaurant at Christys and Lenhardts is closed, but the bar and beer garden are open under new management.

WCPO Digital first reported on the story Feb. 6. http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/money/business_news/proposed-student-housing-development-would-raise-lenhardts-building

The William Windholtz Trust owns the building. Members of the Windholtz family could not be immediately reached, but the permit indicates Newtown-based Evans Landscaping has been hired to do the demolition work.

Still, it will be weeks or months before demolition could start if it ever starts at all.

City ordinances prohibit demolition of a structure while a request for historic designation is being processed. A city official confirmed that the city has placed a hold on all permits related to the building until April 1, and that hold could be extended.

Original post:
Demolition permit filed for Christy's and Lenhardt's building near UC

SEFFNER, Florida (Reuters) - Demolition crews resumed work on Monday at a Tampa-area home where a sinkhole opened last week underneath a bedroom, swallowing a man asleep in his bed.

Jeff Bush, 37, was declared "presumed dead" by Hillsborough County officials on Sunday as rescue workers abandoned any hope of recovering his body.

The goal on Monday was to demolish the rest of the house before efforts will begin to stabilize the sinkhole, said William Puz, a spokesman for Hillsborough County. The hole was about 30 feet wide and 60 feet deep and filled with clay and debris. It is unlikely that Bush's body will ever be retrieved, officials said.

Two nearby houses have been evacuated because the sinkhole has weakened the ground underneath them, and their residents probably will never be allowed inside again, said Jessica Damico of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.

Bush, a landscaper who mowed highway medians for a living, had moved into the four-bedroom home only two months ago which he shared with his brother, Jeremy Bush, 36, and four others.

A wrecking crew on Sunday began the demolition going about its job as carefully as possible to preserve the home's contents for survivors.

Workers recovered a family Bible, flag, military medals, a purse, teddy bears and generations of photos. On Monday they recovered two antique rifles that were family heirlooms.

Bush disappeared into the hole that opened up under his bedroom on Thursday night. The other occupants of the house, which is owned by the family of Jeremy Bush's fiancee, had been preparing for bed when they heard a loud crash and Jeff Bush screaming.

With the sinkhole expanding, engineers placed listening devices, microphones, ground-penetrating radar and other equipment testing the soil on the site to seek a safety zone to work and any sign of life below, which they never detected.

Jeremy Bush said the family was discussing plans for a memorial service and a possible marker at the site.

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Demolition continues at scene of missing Florida sinkhole victim

STACY SQUIRES/Fairfax NZ

OUT OF SIGHT: John Kennedy surveys the section of his land where a contractor buried part of the demolished house that stood there before he bought it. The contractor was ordered by Environment Canterbury to remove the waste.

Demolition contractors tearing down condemned Christchurch houses are being investigated for burying debris onsite instead of dumping the material.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) is investigating at least four cases where demolition waste was buried on residential green-zone sites. It is making offenders go back to clean up their mess.

John Kennedy was surprised to hear from ECan last week and be told they had to go on to his vacant section in New Brighton to oversee the removal of buried demolition waste.

The material was from the house of the previous owner of the plot. The house had been demolished because of earthquake damage.

Kennedy was unimpressed by the demolition contractor's behaviour.

"What gets me is the amount of money these guys are getting paid and then they go and do this."

The amount of waste was not large, he said, buried across an area of about three square metres in a hole up to 1.5 metres deep, and would have fitted in one truck or trailer load.

"This is just lazy. They just didn't want to get the truck back [one last time]."

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Dirty demolition contractors face callbacks

WATERLOO, Iowa --- Demolition at the former Chamberlain Manufacturing Corp. has been halted after something raised a stink.

Vieth Construction Corp. of Cedar Falls was told to stop working at the contaminated former manufacturing site last month after crews unearthed something that spread an obnoxious odor through the neighborhood.

Waterloo City Council members this week approved spending up to $25,000 with HR Green Inc. of Cedar Rapids for environmental testing on the site at East Fourth and Esther streets. The firm is also putting a plan in place to deal with future surprises, including the use of air canisters to capture samples if another odor arises.

"The contractor was told to not remove any more footings or slabs for now," said Chris Western, a city planner II overseeing the project. "We keep running across things we didn't quite expect."

Before discovering the smelly material, demolition crews uncovered four buried rail cars.

"We found the rail cars were cleaned and closed in place by an environmental firm, and filled with sand," Western said. "Chamberlain has agreed to pay for the removal and scrapping of those cars."

Test results of the malodorous area are expected early next week, which should allow contractors to resume work when the snow disappears.

"We covered it with plastic for now to minimize the smell, which I think has worked well," Western said. "The initial test results are that it wasn't anything too serious."

Chamberlain, a former defense contractor, operated at the 22-acre site from 1919 until 1994.

The city of Waterloo acquired the property in 2005 and began working with the Environmental Protection Agency, using federal grants to tear down the buildings and test for contaminants. Vieth Construction is removing the remaining concrete and asphalt slabs, footings and structures under a $468,000 contract.

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Chamberlain demolition raises a stink

Black Ops 2 - Hijacked - 57/7 - Demolition
Hijacked 57/7 Cazzeggio

By: gugas94

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Black Ops 2 - Hijacked - 57/7 - Demolition - Video

[FULL]Raw Demolition of Fla. home over sinkhole

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[FULL]Raw Demolition of Fla. home over sinkhole - Video

GTA IV custom demolition derby part 1
This is the first one of the countless demolition derby #39;s I play with my friends on Grand Theft Auto IV. Special thanks to A. Greengames, if you want you can like and subscribe. We are planning more, and better video #39;s in the future, but it could take some time.

By: Stefkesgames

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GTA IV custom demolition derby part 1 - Video