Mysterious photo has left us scratching our heads.

Is this some new-fangled demolition method? The aftermath of a missile attack? A city’s attempt at creating more open spaces? Or an ill-timed lit match on curry night?

You decide:

And the winner of this year’s “how to piss off property owners award” is…

Detroit has spent nearly $50 million since 2004 demolishing buildings owners have left to rot, but weak collection efforts have largely left taxpayers stuck with the bill, city officials acknowledge.

But Mayor Dave Bing says he’s about to get tough, promising to sue walkaway owners or sic collection agencies on them. After years of failing even to send bills for costs, the city soon plans to begin filing suits against the owners of the 40 most expensive demolitions of the past six years, mostly apartments or businesses, which run more than $25,000 apiece.

“Cost recovery on this stuff is very important,” says Karla Henderson, the city’s new director of Buildings and Safety Engineering, who wouldn’t identify which property owners the city will target. “The status quo of how we’ve been addressing this no longer works. We need to send a message it’s not OK anymore.”

Read the full story here.

Tired of traditional orange and yellow high visibility vests? Then dare to wear pink.

Those of you that have been reading Demolition News for long enough will know that, sartorially at least, we’re very much in touch with our feminine side. In the past year, we have sported a kilt, hats that have strayed to the Elton John side of flamboyant, and sported facial hair that would not have looked out of place in a Village People promo.

So we’re delighted to learn that those fine people at Active Workwear have now introduced yet another product line to test our ability to retain an air of dignified masculinity: the pink, high visibility vest.

Quite what those health and safety types will make of what looks like an escapee from a lesser known area of Liberace’s wardrobe, Lord alone knows. But we may order a few and offer them as competition prizes, just to see how butch (or otherwise) our estemmed readers really are.

Tentative date set for implosion of 34-storey Palm Beach property.

After numerous delays, West Palm Beach officials are preparing for a 14 February implosion of the hurricane-damaged tower at 1515 S. Flagler Drive. The structure, vacant for five years, is being demolished to make way a $150 million condo called The Modern.

While the date is tentative, Doug Wise, the city’s construction services director, said there’s consensus that the demolition should be ready by that time.

And there’s plenty of incentive: The developer, Trinity Development LLC, will be fined $1,000 per day by the city if the 1515 Tower isn’t down by the end of February.

Read more here.

TV cameras capture implosion of grain elevator in San Angelo, Texas.

25 metres of grain elevator disappeared in a boom and a cloud of dust in Eden, captured on television cameras for “The Imploders,” a new TV series for the TLC cable channel.

The implosion of the old grain elevator at the closed Concho Feed Mill on Thursday drew a crowd, including all 270 students and most of the 50 teachers and staff of the Eden Independent School District, who were bused across town for the 2 p.m. event.

Read more here or view the video below.

Federal stimulus funds to boost demolition initiative in Flint.

Flint in Michigan is expected to receive a massive boost in demolition and home rehabilitation funding today — about $25 million in federal stimulus funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

HUD said in a news release that Secretary Shaun Donovan will announce the awarding of $2 billion in stimulus funds nationwide in Detroit this afternoon. The awards include about $224 million for a consortium of 12 Michigan land banks, which applied as a group for the funding.

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority has been awarded about 80 percent of the funds it requested on behalf of the state land banks and cities, according to HUD. The Genesee County Land Bank’s share of that award will be about $25 million, according to former county treasurer and Land Bank chairman Daniel T. Kildee.

Read more here.

Three foundations may finance demolition of Indiana shopping mall.

Niles Township appears to be a community bent on destruction; in this case, the destruction of the former Eastgate Shopping Plaza.

NewsCenter 16 has learned that a trio of community foundations is poised to step forward and offer to pay for the destruction of the building so taxpayers won’t have to.

The latest estimate puts the potential price tag in the neighborhood of $150-thousand. “From what we have conveyed to them as far as what we can get, from demolition quotes, that they are willing to come forward and pay for the whole demolition part of it,” said Jim Kidwell, Niles Charter Township Supervisor.

Read more here.

EPA fines three companies over Rhode Island naval base asbestos mishandling.

Three companies that worked on a demolition project at the Newport Navy Base in Newport, R.I. will pay nearly $15,000 in fines for illegally handling and disposing of asbestos, the toxic building material linked to deadly mesothelioma cancer.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency charged the United States Naval Station – Newport, Goel Services, Inc., and A. A. Asbestos Abatement Co., Inc. of violating the Clean Air Act and the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Asbestos in February 2009. Part of the demolition work involved removing, handling, and disposing of asbestos.

Read more here.

World famous aircraft plant looks set for demolition.

Boeing is set to demolish its historic Plant 2 facility near Boeing Field, famous for being so vital to the World War II manufacturing effort that to foil possible enemy bombing raids the roof was camouflaged with life-size fake trees, houses and streets.

Boeing spokesman Chris Villiers said a demolition schedule has not been finalised. But the company has told the Museum of Flight it must remove several old aircraft stored inside the plant within the next four months.

After demolition, Boeing plans to clean up the heavily polluted factory site, which backs onto the Duwamish Waterway.

Full story here.

Texas Stadium will fall on 11 April, according to reports.

After prolonged conjecture about the big-name sponsor behind its imminent implosion, Irving City officials have confirmed that the Texas Stadium implosion has been scheduled for 11 April.

The implosion date was announced at an Irving City Council work session Wednesday. It was the first time the council and the public got a glimpse of when – and how – the city plans to demolish the stadium with its famous hole in the roof.

Jim Redyke, president of Dykon Explosive Demolition Group, said crews have started cutting and digging holes for the thousands of pieces of dynamite that will be used in the implosion.

He said the building won’t fall all at once. Instead, Redyke said, the blasts will be timed to bring the stadium down in a sequence of collapsing pieces, which will take a minute to fall.

Read more here.