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CAT Tracks for August 28, 2011
DOWNTOWN DEMOLITION UPDATE |
It's been a couple of weeks since the last update on the razing of downtown Cairo...
The process being followed is interesting.
The cranes are not happy with demolition and hauling off.
They DIG...DEEP...15 to 20 feet in some places!!!
I mean...
If I recall, they weren't so "thorough" on the west side of Commercial. They cleared the lots off (maybe a foot or so deep) and then trucked in some dirt, spread it out, sowed grass, and that was it.
Makes me think that they are following up on a rumor that the "missing treasure" from Al Capone's empty vault may have been buried in Cairo! (Part of Cairo's folklore is that Al Capone used to hang out in Cairo when things got too hot in Chicago. Hmmm...wonder if Geraldo Rivera is standing by to report any findings?)
Anyway...
The scary thing is that while the cranes dig away, 20- to 30-foot brick walls loom on each side...including sometimes a crumbling roof. To this untrained observer, it is a cave-in waiting to happen.
Hope they know what they are doing...
Okay, for the update:
The building just south of the Cairo Public Utility parking has been a start and stop affair. The first half went down fast...then demolition halted. It has now resumed:
Corner of 10th and Commercial (East)
The demolition of the Bass Building and the Turf Club has been non-stop and is all but completed...a pile of bricks that was once maybe half of the Bass Building and a leveled dirt field that was once the Turf:
The new area of demolition is between 8th and 7th and Commercial (immediately to the north of the Maytag Store.) If you drive down Commercial, you might not notice anything different. Drive down the alley behind (Halliday Street), it's a whole different story...a "hole" story, since the buildings have been gutted:
Between 8th and 7th and Commercial
POSTSCRIPT:
Out of the ashes...
Fat Boys Bar and Grill is constructing!
A framework has arisen surrounding their adjacent lot...where an earlier fire reportedly "took out the beer garden." Looks to be the beginnings of maybe a 12- to 15-foot tall fence.
Guess I won't be sneaking into that party...
