Demolition And Hysterical Preservation

Wolf

Anyone ever have run-ins with historic preservation (I mean hysterical preservation) people while trying to do a demo job?

What happened to you? How did you handle it?

Any suggestions?

Wolf

Do you know, I had landmarks preservation protestors completely kill one great job I won.

It was tearing down the old court house--built in 1896 and a real fire trap. They said it was historic, got an injunction to stop the job on the first day, and it was all downhill from there.

One trick I learned is to punch a few holes in the corner of the buildings with the excavator bucket right away when starting the job. That way, if the hysterical preservation people come, suddenly the building is structurally unsound and cannot be saved. LOL.

Another trick is to strip off all the decoration from the front of the building with the teeth on the excavator bucket. That way, the stuff they like about the building is gone right away.

Mean tricks, but hey, gotta protect the right to demo.

ProWallGuy

Curious to know if you got paid for your lost time on something like that?

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Wolf

They paid for one day's work. Whoopie.

I talked to a lawyer who said that I would normally be entitled to damages in the amount of profit that I would have made on the contract.

However, since the breaching party was the government, and since they would claim unforseen circumstances because they didn't anticipate the court action, that I probably would not prevail.

If it was a private party that owned the old court house, I would have done much better. In fact, it probably would have been on the ground before this unfortunate turn of events.

rino1494

Damn, you are really all about this demo stuff.

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Wolf

You bet I am. Just love demo--all that crashing and crunching. Nothing like it. Total power to feel the building coming down all around you. Love that total destruction, man.

dayexco

sounds to me as though you're into a few natural herbs

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someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

Wolf

What do you mean Dayexco?

dayexco

goofy smoke

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someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

denick

Wolf,

What kind of projects are you into right now? You are the only Demolition specific guy around here. What do you run for equipment? You are always so enthusiastic about demo and most of us are slinging dirt or mud around.

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Nick

"Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving" Albert Einstein

PipeGuy

Tell it like it is Day. If it walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, well then,...

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Deadhead Derek

Well, as a builder, I wanted to say something here, But first let me say that I am the Chairman of the County Historical Landmarks Commission. If you have a question regarding the national standards for historic, I'll be glad to help with the answers, if the questions are based on code for your area, most do have provision for the removal of unsafe buildings. As for punching holes in a registered asset, In our jurisdiction, the fine is equal to 20% of the real market value of the property, or all of the profits if the property is sold. That being said, we, as a commission appointed by the elected officials have granted quite a few demolitions, but not all. PM me if you have questions, or I can check back here.

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apkole

Looks to me as if Wolf is talking about punching a hole in the asset before the hysterical premonition committee has a chance to work their magic.