Friday, May 30, 2014

The Lamp in the Window

They thought they could recover after an April 30 fire.

They couldn't.  The building was judged to be in imminant danger of collapse.   The city condemned the historic building.  It had to come down.

It was a sad week in downtown Binghamton, as a 100 plus year old building has been demolished.  A family owned business, Ellis Bros, may leave downtown Binghamton, New York as a result of this fire and demolition. We are a small city in upstate New York, population around 47,000.  We can't afford to lose a long-standing business.
On May 23, the demolition specialists gathered.  The building on the right is the building about to be demolished.  The building directly to the left of it is another historic building, and there was danger that if the demolition wasn't done right, it could be damaged, since the two buildings touch.

There was a lamp barely visible in the window.  My walking companion had had her eyes on that lamp for some time, but now it was too late for her to do anything but view it in the wreckage.
On May 27, demolition started.  By lunchtime, when I came out to look, most of the back was missing, and the workers were at lunch.
Another view, showing windows to nowhere.
Yesterday, the building was more or less down.

A final, farewell view.  I don't know if any parts of that building are salvageable, such as the 100 plus year old bricks, but I do know that the county is waiving part of the "tipping fees" (fees for using the landfill) in an effort to keep Ellis Brothers downtown.

Has something like this happened where you live?
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2 comments:

  1. Cerebrations.bizMay 30, 2014 at 6:35 AM

    Always sad when a disaster forces a going entity or family to be uprooted.

    It should serve as an example to us all to verify our insurances, to assure that such a calamity will not be our downfall.

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  2. AmyGMay 30, 2014 at 6:14 PM

    Oh! I just hate it when grand old buildings get torn down, though I know that the practicalness of restoring them is often questionable. But they've got such great old design, and of course the materials that they are made of are usually such better stuff than is used today.

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