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Old county administration building comes down
By Jenny Hartley - Senior Reporter The Lancaster News
February 17, 2007
Brick by yellow brick, the old
county administration building on Catawba Street came down this week.
"I felt kind of bad about it when it finally started coming down
Tuesday," said county Planning Director Chris Karres. "I
always get attached to buildings. I always take a picture of every
building I've worked in. That's the planner in me."
D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. began demolishing the 18,000-square-foot
building on Monday afternoon, superintendent Frank Riner said.
His crew of five has made quick work of
razing the building, and worked Thursday morning with huge pieces of
heavy equipment, sorting the building materials into towering piles. |
By Thursday, about all
that remained of the old county administrative building was rubble. The
historic Lancaster County Courthouse is in the background.
Photo by Aaron Morrison Staff
photographer
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A backhoe fitted with a UP
75 processor tossed steel beams like pieces of paper. The processor is
designed to "munch up concrete," Riner said.
"It's more controlled than a wrecking ball," he said.
The company will recycle the steel, wood and concrete from the
wreckage.
"The only thing that goes to the landfill is basic trash,"
Riner said.
The company, which also tore down the old Belk building on Main
Street a few months ago and finished up demolishing the Buy-Rite
convenience store on South Main on Thursday morning, plans to be
finished with the county building next Friday.
After that, the crew will do some grading and backfilling at the
site for three or four days.
"Plant some grass, make it look pretty," Riner said.
Before the wrecking company began demolishing the building,
asbestos and windows were removed from the building. The
demolition cost $74,000, county Risk Manager John Lane said.
The building had been vacant since county offices moved in
2002 into the new County Administration Building a block
away. The old building had most recently been used as a
training ground for police and the county's STAR team,
which consists of police, firefighters, sheriff's deputies
and Lancaster County Emergency Medical Service workers.
The building was built in 1928, with an addition in 1961,
Lane said. It housed many different county functions over
the years, including the Department of Juvenile Justice,
the delinquent tax office, building and zoning and family
court. County Council meetings used to be held there.
There had been talk of renovating the building, but
county officials deemed it too expensive at an
estimated $1.2 million, Lane said.
Memorial monuments for police, fire and EMS workers
are planned at the vacant site.
The demolition brought back memories for former
county employee Judy Chavis, who brought her
4-year-old grandson to the site to watch the heavy
equipment at work.
Chavis, who is now working on a temporary basis
organizing records and files for the county, said
she has good memories of working at the old
building. She started working there in 1961 and
retired in 1997.
"I felt like all the employees were like
family," Chavis said. "There wasn't a
lot of turnover like there is now. Everyone
stayed there until they retired."
Chavis said she would like a brick from the
old and new sections of the building to
cherish.
"I was sort of sad to see it come
down, but I understand - progress,"
she said.
Contact Jenny Hartley at 283-1151 or jhartley@thelancasternews.com
Article © The
Lancaster News, reprinted with
permission.
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