What happened to the bang…?

Eleventh-hour change of heart sees Florida hotel demolished by mechanical means.

Fort Lauderdale residents (and Demolition News readers) have apparently been robbed of seeing the Howard Johnson hotel imploded next week.

Demolition News understands that Advanced Explosive Demolition (AED) had been drilling the structure ahead of a planned implosion on 23 February. However, according to local news reports, the structure is now being felled using mechanical means.

Workers already have removed much of the exterior “skin” of the building at 700 State Road A1A. The hotel was damaged during Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

The demolition will make way for a luxury condo project, the Paramount Fort Lauderdale Beach (see rendering above).

Read more here.