The Detailers Cafe
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Kitzy on May 19, 2019, 01:51:23 PM
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I got the chance to be in the Exclusion Zone during the implosion of the areas tallest building. This was a big deal, not only because it was the largest building in the area, which dominated the skyline from every angle, but because it was also the headquarters for the famous Bethlehem Steel Corporation which was the largest ship builder and supplier of steel in the country and employed a large part of the local population. Almost everyone who lives in the Lehigh Valley has ties to someone who worked for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.
It was a sad day to see the building come down but it was something to witness as it's not every day you get to see a building implode, not to mention be so close. I'm seeing people say they heard it in NJ which the closest NJ border is just over 10 miles.
We had to be on site at 5am before all of the roads were closed down. The building was brought down at 7am. There was supposed to be an alarm that sounded immediately before detonation. We all thought we heard something around 7:02. There were mumbles of "is that the horn?" I said F it and hit record just in case. My video isn't edited at all. When I hit record, the first charge went one. I would have been so mad if I missed it.
Shortly after the building came down, after the dust cleared a bit, the cleaning crews went to work in the street and we got a chance to jump in a truck and drive down the road adjacent to the rubble, roads still covered in debris and the air still filled with dust.
https://vimeo.com/337095504
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Bittersweet. Kind of like watching the implosions of many Kodak buildings here in Rochester, NY - some of which I used to work in.
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To make matters worse, they are planning to put over 100 apartments, retail stores, offices and medical buildings in its place. It's the last thing this area needs. It is congested enough. The road infrastructure wasn't designed to handle the current capacity much less additional. We are so far behind. And the extra heavy traffic load just destroys the roads faster than they can fix them and faster than they can update them. It's awful. When I moved, I moved 40 minutes north, a little out of the craziness. At the right time.
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I would love to watch a big building like that come down, but it certainly is bittersweet.
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To make matters worse, they are planning to put over 100 apartments, retail stores, offices and medical buildings in its place. It's the last thing this area needs. ....<snip>...
I would think this is what the area needs. I don't know who owned the building after Bethlehem went under 18 years ago.
- From what I recall the production locations/assets were bought in court by the steel company in India; but not the office building.
I would think generating some tax revenue is going to help the area revive...
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To make matters worse, they are planning to put over 100 apartments, retail stores, offices and medical buildings in its place. It's the last thing this area needs. ....<snip>...
I would think this is what the area needs. I don't know who owned the building after Bethlehem went under 18 years ago.
- From what I recall the production locations/assets were bought in court by the steel company in India; but not the office building.
I would think generating some tax revenue is going to help the area revive...
The area is actually doing quite well. On the south side of the city, Sands built a casino, shopping outlets, and a hotel along with an entertainment area, which is now being sold to another company who is expanding with a few more hotels and a water park/adventure Park. The rest of the Lehigh valley is being flooded with office buildings as well. We also already have an influx of out of state people who live here just because it's cheaper than NJ or NYC. It's getting really bad.
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