Mid winter in Central New York brings many changes to man and his environment. In the City of Syracuse winter has a special penchant for bringing the ample stock of old and ill maintained buildings to their knees. The endless cycle of heavy snows followed by periods of thawing and freezing are natural roof killers. While this winter has been mild by historical standards we lost another turn of the century brick building in the commercial heart of downtown earlier this week to these forces of nature. Nearly three stories of weathered brick came crashing to the ground of the Hogan Building leaving a gaping hole worthy of devastation straight from a monster movie. News sources indicate a security guard for the empty building noticed an ever growing crack in the wall that eventually lead to the hole you see below.
Sadly ownership of the building, like many other historic properties across the city, was in a legal gray zone of LLC’s and other ententes all struggling for control while Rome burned. The City of Syracuse found itself responsible for taking down a four story building along one of its busiest and most storied streets. Ritter and Paratore of Utica, NY received the call to remove the building as quickly and safely as possible. They brought in a Komatsu PC600LC long reach excavator, the very same machine I stalked for months a few years ago during the Kennedy Square demolition job.
Demo was scheduled to begin Friday afternoon but was pushed back until Saturday morning. I jumped at joy when I heard the announcement. I am easy to please. Below, the scene as it was Friday afternoon. Pictured is Salina Street, a major thoroughfare completely closed do to fears of a complete collapse.
By now you probably figured that I crawled out of bed at the crack of dawn on a cold Saturday morning to film some of the demo. You just have to wait a few days to see the results. Until then, enjoy a little more of the setup action from Friday.
The Video.
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Demolition of downtown Syracuse building starts as onlookers watch (video, photos)