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The Dispatch wrote
The final countdown begins for walkway
Sunday, July 13, 2008
BY BOBBY PIERCE
S. High Street will lose what some call an eyesore when the City Center sky bridge to the Lazarus building is removed this fall. The walkway connecting the mall and former department store was in vogue in the 1980s, but city leaders and urban planners now see it as a barrier to Downtown commerce.
The sky bridge lost much of its traffic in August 2004 when the Lazarus building closed; some retailers were still using the bridge at the time of the closing, but they have left.
After the walkway is gone, other work is planned around the Lazarus building: The facade will be made over into several storefronts, and two alleys on the northwest side of the building will be repaired. The sky bridge creates a visual deterrent to retail shopping on S. High Street. The area under the bridge is dark and uninviting for shoppers, he said. But new development in the area might soon bring an influx of shoppers.
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ITS THE FINAL COUNTDOWN !!! keyboard strikes up….
It will be exciting, but it will not look as cool as when Grant Hospital got demolished.
I was sort of wondering about how this will happen. With a building like the one at Grant they could do a traditional explosion demolition to bring the whole thing down. How will the walkway come down? I imagine High Street will need to be shut down for some period of time while they dismantle it a bit more carefully?
Also, is there any way we can obtain pieces of it to keep as a memento of the new beginning for the City Center? :D
I was sort of wondering about how this will happen. With a building like the one at Grant they could do a traditional explosion demolition to bring the whole thing down. How will the walkway come down? I imagine High Street will need to be shut down for some period of time while they dismantle it a bit more carefully?
Also, is there any way we can obtain pieces of it to keep as a memento of the new beginning for the City Center? :D
Or we could just wait for the day that a nice plume of dust hovers over downtown and a pile of ruble lies where City Center once did…plenty of mementos then!
:D
It will probably come down piece by piece, beginning with interior stripout to the steel, then down from the top to the base 1 beam at a time.
That was my thought as well. I cant see em shutting down High to bring in a wrecking ball, and I think explosives would be a little overkill
That was my thought as well. I cant see em shutting down High to bring in a wrecking ball, and I think explosives would be a little overkill
Though it would fit so well with the cow town image we have so painstakingly created.
That was my thought as well. I cant see em shutting down High to bring in a wrecking ball, and I think explosives would be a little overkill
Naw, that would be great! Just put charges on either end using detcord as a trigger charge (like they do in mines) wrapped around about 2 feet from where it meets the buildings … let ‘er go and drop it down onto a couple-four flatbed trucks on high street and just drive away.
My friends, I would gladly pay admission to see them try THAT trick. The city is missing a valuable revenue opportunity!
How long do you think it would take? I assume they’d still shut down part of High Street, or perhaps do the work at night?
30 days, most likely at night time. Dropping it any other way would (probably) damage both buildings and underground utilities, not to mention the sidewalks, bus stops and streets.
Generally top-down demolition utilizes skidsteers to push debris out into dumpsters from the inside until all that remains is the frame. Then cutting and lifting one beam at a time down from the top until its done. Although, it often really depends on who does the job, since most companies have their own unique ways of doing things.
It won’t go fast, there will be plenty to see, photograph and talk about. :)
I really hope the city will give residents a chance to purchase interior finishes from it, and the mall prior to whatever happens there. All of those storefronts are ripe with casework, lighting, drop ceilings etc- all very recycleable. Also, all of that awful brown granite in the common areas.
spoilsport.
Of course it would, but it would sure be an entertaining second of freefall to watch, and maybe while they’re fixing the collapsed sewer lines and road they could start putting in those street car rails :D
You know what I want Mike? I want them to remove the skylights near the elevators in the mall, dangle six cameras facing in all directions from a crane, and implode the mall. Now that would be awesome!
I foresee a very happy, CU happy hour at some point…
ooooooohhh yeaaaaah…..
I am so turned on by that idea….
Any hour is happy when there are implosions and alcohol. 8)
if only they were playing a song… some song that symbolizes the impending destruction and renewal….
hrmm, i wonder?
I saw them dismantle tall buildings in Akron right next to other buildings, like feet away. While other people were working in the other buildings. Was pretty crazy to watch….and you could watch even while at a baseball game downtown, lol.
if only they were playing a song… some song that symbolizes the impending destruction and renewal….
hrmm, i wonder?
you stop that!
aw crap… too late. stupid brainworms.
I guess they could construct a giant guillotine longitudinally right down the middle of High St., and hold a big skywalk execution ceremony … explosives are so passe.
This turn of conversation makes me wonder if anyone would pay to be inside the walkway when it comes down. There have to be wealthy thrillseekers around here (I’m NOT one of them).