Government’s Tower Building on North Church Street has been coming down for six months, but the process became obvious just recently.
The KM Limited crane moves a chunk of wall from the tower Building on Tuesday. This view is from Edward Street. Photo: Carol Winker |
Removal of exterior wall sections revealed that the roof is already gone, along with most of the interior.
The first phase of the demolition began last year, with the removal of interior furniture, fixtures and fittings (Caymanian Compass, 23 September). That work was done by Phoenix Construction.
In January, Government Information Services reported that KM Limited had been awarded a $660,000 contract to demolish the six-storey structure – five floors of office space and one storey below ground for storage.
KM Limited is employing a reverse construction technique, disassembling or cutting parts away from the top down.
Mr. Matthew Yow, Lands and Survey Department Facilities Manager, said that was the only demolition process Government had considered, as opposed to a wrecking ball or explosives.
GIS later expanded on that statement. ‘The decision to employ a process of reverse construction demolition was in consideration of the proximity to offices and the heavy volume of pedestrian traffic on North Church Street,’ it said.
The Tower Building was privately built in 1982 by Tower Corporation Ltd. Government purchased it in 1984 to provide additional office space for various departments.
The building was seriously damaged by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004 received major damage and was never used again.
Even prior to Hurricane Ivan there had been a plan to demolish the Tower Building, which had poor ventilation and problems with mould, fungi and fibreglass exposure (Compass, 5 September 2005).
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