This morning Curbed intern Amy Swift, a self-proclaimed building hugger, is live on the scene for press conference/demo spectacular. Our press invite says:
Four apartment buildings and another dangerous structure will be razed simultaneously Thursday morning in the Detroit Works Project Demonstration Area #3.Simultaneously? You don't say! More pictures and updates to come as things get underway.
9:07 AM: Here is Mayor Bing kicking things off. The matching tee-shirt folks are from The Greening of Detroit.
9:11 AM: From the look of things, that building will soon be a goner. We salute you, building about-to-perish!
9:19 Mayor Bing explained that they are using Federal Funding to take down the blight. Apparently today's demo is part of a phase two fund, of which they've already spent about 50 % . The Mayor anticipates getting more money for demo from the state soon. Basically there is more of this to come.
9:25 We've got five buildings coming down today. And they're coming down FAST... we're snapping more photos.
9:27 The scene. Demo watching is so much more fun that morning TV, wouldn't you agree?
9:30 Here's more from Mayor Bing's speech. In this phase of demo, the city is really concentrated on getting the community involved in targeting what needs to come down. They've talked to people in this neighborhood and determined that 158 structures need to come down in this area of Southwest Detroit.
9:32 Did we mention coming down FAST? We're pretty serious about that. Look! There they go.
9:36 Seriously. Look at them go!
9:41 Here is our take: looking down these streets this is not a bad neighborhood except for these five blighted buildings. Seems like a good move to take them out. The Greening of Detroit people spoke about putting in a park with BBQ pits and playgrounds to really turn this into something for the community.
9:44 Rendering of said new park.
9:55 Want a peek at the press release? Here you go! Bing is saying there will be 1,500 structures demolished in 90 days.
9:59 Pieces from the now pretty-much-dunzo Elsmere are brought out.
10:01 No really. THAT WAS FAST. Wasn't there a building here an hour ago? Demo in Detroit just got all don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it.
10:12 Remainders! Need some used bricks?
10:15 Things are winding down so this will be our last LIVE update. The first building came down in approx 5 minutes but the rest are going to take more time. We'll have more news an analysis later today. Many thank to Amy Swift, who you can follow on twitter if you want to say a personal thanks for today's photos. And here's a look at the surrounding neighborhood.
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