--- In [email protected], traderdube <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> By JONATHAN MILLER
> <http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=JONATHAN%
20MILLER&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=JONATHAN%
20MILLER&inline=nyt-per>
> Published: April 30, 2006
>
> ASBURY PARK, N.J., April 29 The building, if you could call it
that,
> was a rusty empty box near the Boardwalk that didn't even have a
name.
> It was known simply as C-8, for its place on the tax maps.
>
> Since C-8 had become a symbol for the failed efforts to revive this
old
> resort on the Jersey Shore, its demolition on Saturday was supposed
to
> herald a determined rebirth.
>
> But after the booms of 91 pounds of explosives had sounded, and
after
> the thick clouds of dust had cleared, part of C-8 remained
stubbornly
> upright.
>
> "That thing is still fighting," said Tom Patten, an ironworker from
> Oakhurst, who earlier in the week helped remove steel spandrels
from the
> bottom of C-8 in an attempt to weaken it. "They have a bigger mess
now
> than when they started."
>
> Doug Loizeaux, vice president of Controlled Demolitions Inc. of
> Maryland, the company that oversaw the implosion, said there was
too
> little weight to pull down the structure because it was not a
finished
> building.
>
> "There was one portion that was 45 feet in the air," he said, but
he
> noted that after a few hours of work with a crane, "Now it's flat
on the
> ground."
>
> "This is an historical event for Asbury Park," Mayor Kevin G.
Sanders
> said in a statement released earlier in the week. "As a lifelong
> resident, the C-8 structure was a failure of the past and I will be
> happy to see it taken down."
>
> But C-8 was itself supposed to usher in a bright future for Asbury
Park.
> It was initially part of a $500 million project that was approved
in
> 1986. The developer, Joseph Carabetta of Meriden, Conn., promised
to
> build luxury condominiums and renovate the Paramount Theater, the
> Convention Hall and the Casino nearby.
>
> None of that happened.
>
> Union strife, a fading housing market, the bankruptcy of Mr.
Carabetta's
> company, court fights and other problems ensured that the building
was
> never completed, and its rusting skeleton has stood, a block from
the
> water, for more than 15 years.
>
> After the debris is cleared over the next couple of weeks, Metro
Homes,
> a Hoboken developer, plans to build a twin-towered 224-apartment
> building on the site.
>
> Although city officials had predicted that the demolition on
Saturday
> morning would be watched by thousands of people, only a few hundred
> showed up.
>
> Some stood on cars. Many brought cameras, cellphones and video
recorders.
>
> Members of a crew that had just finished making a feature film
entitled
> "Asbury Park" said they had taken shots of C-8 and it figures
> prominently in the movie.
>
> A woman and six children spread a picnic blanket out on a weedy
lot. At
> a minute after 7 a.m., a child glared at the structure and
yelled: "Do it!"
>
> The implosion came a few minutes later, and the blasts startled the
> crowd that had gathered a block away. Most of the building sank
like a
> stack of dominoes.
>
> It took 14 seconds.
>
> The crowd cheered.
>
> But when the smoke cleared, many were surprised to see that parts
were
> still standing. About four floors of the northeast corner remained,
and
> a five-story section listed precariously at a 45-degree angle.
>
> The demolition was part of a new effort to revive a city, once
> celebrated for its Boardwalk and gaudy amusements, that went into a
long
> decline after race riots in the 1960's.
>
> For all the widely shared hopes for renewal, however, loud
disagreements
> remain over how to proceed.
>
> Several property owners have been resisting attempts to condemn
> buildings earmarked for reconstruction, like the Baronet Theatre, a
> nearby deli and a bowling alley. The property owners have taken the
city
> to court, accusing it of "eminent domain abuse," but officials have
> scoffed at their claims.
>
> "They bought after the redevelopment deal was signed, and they knew
that
> these properties were going to get taken for the redevelopment,"
said
> Councilman John M. Loffredo, who pushed the signal box to begin the
> implosion. "They're businessmen. They know what they're doing. What
more
> can I say to that?"
>
> Some business owners have also complained that the new development
will
> lack entertainment and amusement, attractions that made Asbury Park
what
> it was.
>
> Mr. Loffredo countered: "Times have changed. I'm just saying all
that
> honky-tonk is not what we're going to be putting back there."
>
> As he watched cranes picking over the wreckage, Kevin Feehan, 48,
an
> owner of the nearby Wonder Bar, reflected on the significance of
the
> day's events. The city still is far from completely back, he said,
but
> there is reason for hope.
>
> "This was like getting Al Capone out of Chicago," he said. "It
didn't
> stop the crime, but everyone felt good about it."
>
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