The Latest Photos from the Front...

...in the war on the McGuire:


It looks like the metal monsters are finally beginning to win.

Now That's Some Destruction!

Well, the demolition of the McGuire's parking garage has been progressing at a snail's pace, but it seems to have picked up quite a bit over the last few days. Here's what it looked like yesterday:

Pardon the lousy trees getting in the way and all. But as you can see, it's almost all gone. The main tower will take weeks, even months to bring down. As one reader noted in a previous post, the poor folks living close by are in for many, many months of noise from this project and the subsequent reconstruction of the building. With the housing/apartment market as it is, I'm not sure whether they're planning to build something else there immediately or not. I mean, look at the lot where the former Speakeasy stood. Granted, it's a smaller parcel of land, but it's been vacant for 10 years now. So the McGuire's lot may just lay fallow for a couple of years while its owners rehearse the proper way to build a building. This time no screwups, guys. Thanks.

Lies!

Last week this cop told me that they were gonna take down the McGuire's garage in a day. Well, here it is many days later and there's still a garage. Observe:

It's like one-third gone. OK, so it's gonna take some time. But that doesn't excuse the cop from lying to me. At this rate, the garage won't be done for another two weeks. OK, so even though the cop lied to me, it should be pretty cool to witness the big tower come down. That's gonna take some time.

See You in Hell, McGuire's Garage!

Well, for those of you who have an emotional attachment to the McGuire's parking garage, I have some sad news for you: it's apparently going to be demolished tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow. That was quick and decisive! One of the cops on the scene told me they were going to take the place down floor-by-floor. Of course, the main tower will take a lot more effort. Lord knows how long that'll take, but according to this cop, the garage will only take a day. Decisive! Here are some other photos of this future vacant lot:



Pay your respects while you can!

It Begins

Well, if you were wondering what the heck was going on at the McGuire, here's the scoop: it's being gutted to prepare for demolition. How exciting! As I've discussed here in the past, I'm almost positive that there won't be an implosion, but instead just a slow dismantling that will eventually bring the building down. Me, I'm planning on documenting it day-by-day once it gets started in earnest. For the moment, they only appear to be working on the area under the parking garage. Here are a few pictures that only partially tell the tale:


Anyhow, it's beginning, but it hasn't become interesting yet.

McGuire DEATHWATCH - 2

Doesn't this poor building look dejected? Well, if a bunch of puny humans were gonna tear me down, I'd be pretty upset. But since those same puny humans didn't build me legs so that I could run away, I guess I'd be resigned to my fate. Hence the look of dejection. By the time I get back from my "vacation," the McGuire will be emptier and even more forlorn-looking. Heck, they may even take down that stupid scaffold during my absence. Come to think of it, though, that may be the only thing holding the building up. I mean, they said it would eventually experience structural failure. What if instead of "eventually," they really meant "immediately?" Yeah, I'd want to have as much support as possible, even if the scaffold provides no real stability. Well, either way, I bid the McGuire a fond farewell. I hope it's still standing when I get back, because I'm eager to document its incremental demise. DEATHWATCH will continue in June.

McGuire DEATHWATCH - 1

The scaffold is still there, but it is none of our concern. We're solely interested in the demise of this unfortunate building. The dwarf army which formerly toiled on its slopes has been discharged. They are heading to their homeland to graze their flocks and serenade their womenfolk. The tenant evacuation has only just started. It will continue for the next few months. I wonder what it will be like for the last person to leave. I've always had an Omega Man fantasy, so that's why I'm curious. After it's vacated, they'll call in the goblins to strip the structure of its valuables and then the end will come. I'm pretty sure they're not going to implode it, although it would be spectacular. There are too many other buildings standing too near to it. Even though demolition engineers take pride in their focus and accuracy (I've seen all that stuff on Discovery), I'm afraid that the explosion needed to bring this baby down will do terrible damage to the surrounding structures. The only alternative is to take it down piece by piece. I think this presents a great opportunity to document the McGuire as it steadily disappears from existence. Heck, I might even start a separate blog for the occasion. So that's how things stand for now.