Voluntarily Demolished Skyscrapers
 

i'm interested in compiling a list of the tallest buildings ever to be voluntarily demolished. what i mean by that is perfectly fine and structurally sound buildings that were taken down purely at the choice of the owner, usually for the purpose of erecting an even taller structure. what i'm not inlcuding here are towers that have been destroyed or damaged in attacks (wtc), or towers that were later taken down after they had been struck by a great calamity such as a bad fire or a tornado or an earthquake, etc.

this is what i have so far, if anyone has info about the buildings i have question marks (?) for, please add everything you know about when and why the building was demolished.



1. Singer Building, NYC - 612 ft. - demolished in 1968 to make way for One Liberty Plaza

http://www.vintageviews.org/vv-ny/Ko/pix/nyc026.JPG






2. Morrison Hotel, Chicago - 526 ft. - demolished in 1965 to make way for First National Plaza (now named Chase Plaza)

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/4...emolishec3.jpg






3. City Investing Building, NYC - 486 ft. - demolished in 1968 to make way for One Liberty Plaza

http://www.lileks.com/bleats/archive/01/0901/09141.jpg






4. J.L. Hudson's, Detroit - 439 ft. - demolished in 1998 because ?

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/2/2287/2287_1.jpg






5. National City Bank, NYC - 433 ft. - demolished in ? because ?

image needed






6. State Office Block, Sydney - 420 ft. - demolished in 1997 to make way for Aurora Place

http://www.sauer-thompson.com/junkfo...es/Dupain3.jpg






7. Savoy-Plaza Hotel, NYC - 420 ft. - demolished in 1964 to make way for the General Motors Building

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/GON024-A03.jpg






8. CAGA House, Sydney - 410 ft. - demolished in 1992 because ?

image needed






9. First National Bank, Pittsburgh - 387 ft. - demolished in 1970 to make way for One PNC Plaza

image needed





10. Hanover National Bank, NYC - 385 ft. - demolished in 1931 to make way for the expansion of 14 Wall

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/8751/hanovermn2.jpg






11. Centre International Rogier, Brussels - 384 ft. - demoolished in 2001 to make way for Dexia Tower

http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/8691/rogierfx2.jpg





12. Landmarl Hotel & Casion, Las Vegas - 365 ft. - demolished in 1995 to make way for Las Vegas Convention Center parking lot

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/3...tel1986ma8.jpg





13. Furama Kempinski Hotel, Hong Kong - 361 ft. - demolished in 2002 to make way for AIG Tower

http://www.travelkompass.de/bilder/furama.jpg





14. Wilson Mendes Caldiera, Sao Paolo - 361 ft. - demolished in ? because ?

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9021/mendesbp6.jpg





15. 60 Wall Street, NYC - 351 ft. - demolished in 1977 to make way for J.P. Morgan (now named 60 wall Street)

image needed






if you've got better images for any of these towers, please post them.

this list excludes emminent domain buildings, right?

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Number 4 was demolished because it was vacant. I don't know completely why but the lot is currently an empty block with underground parking. There was a proposal for a mixed use building called the Woodward Block, but I haven't heard anything since the proposal.

such as?

I have a question. Is there a reason the Fort Worth's Landmark Tower (demolished 3-18-06) was not included? Damage from the 2000 Tornado was part of the reason for demolition, but not the only reason. When it had its revolving clock on top (pre tornado) it was 420 feet tall. The clock was removed before actual building demoliton began. The height of the building without the clock was 380 feet, making it the second tallest building ever imploded by controlled demolition, with or without clock.

^ the fort worth skyscraper was omitted because it was damaged by a tornado. as far as i know, the buildings on the list above were all perfectly fine, structurally sound buildings with no good reason to be torn down, other than to erect something larger in their place.

You can add this one to the list:

Hennessy Centre (458 ft, 41 stories, 1981), Hong Kong, to be demolished by the end of 2006

http://starphotohk.com/hk-place/2006...yBay04-600.jpg

http://www.mpfinance.com/ftp/Finance.../la/13la04.jpg

^ interesting, why is it being demolished?

Because the owner want to increase the area of the mall housed by the building (from 0.16msf to 0.5msf), and personally I think this is a stupid decision and I'm wondering how much money will they lose eventually:haha:

New York World Building; 1894, 309 feet (1st building to surpass the spire of Trinity Church.) destroyed in 1955 to expand an onramp onto the Brooklyn Bridge.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._York_City.jpg

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p.s. good thread idea. i'm obsessed with this subject, too.

^ wow, that work of art was destroyed for a friggin on-ramp!?! holy shit, that's just unbelievable.

but i suppose with the larger issue, you're right, buildings that succumbed to eminent domain would not really qualify for a list like this. i'm interested in seeing only buildings that were purely voluntarily torn down.

The presumable #11, the 31-story 365ft Landmark Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas was demolished for surface parking at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/3...tel1986ma8.jpg
Note that the usual surface parking stigma should not apply since it is also where various oversize things are exhibited (i.e. heavy construction equipment). Also, not really of any historical significance, unless you think the height of 60's kitsch should be preserved.

has the demolition process commenced?

Not yet, but a majority of the tenant (including all retails tenant) has been moved out

^ well, let me know when it begins and then i can add it to the list.

maybe i'll expand the list down to a top 15 or 20 to include that building.

Columbia Building, Louisville

http://www.oldlouisville.com/Ruins/C.../Columbia1.jpg

The Columbia Building

Begun in 1888, and opened on January 1, 1890, Louisville's first skyscraper and once the "tallest building in the Western Hemisphere south of the Ohio River," came down in late1966 to make way for the new Galt House Hotel, Louisville Trust Bank and Belvedere complex. This eyesore nearly didn't get torn down at all, until several banks and a local developer came to the rescue with the additional funding the city required..

http://www.oldlouisville.com/Ruins/C...umbiaruins.jpg

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Wade Hampton Inn, Columbia, SC, 1940 (expansion?) 40ish meters? demolished in the early 80s for 25 story Capitol Center (Wade Hampton destroyed a much better looking Victorian 3-story w/turrets)

http://www.timemachinetoys.com/postcards/081.jpg

Capitol Center is the tallest in this pic

http://www.pbase.com/lsyd/image/65075810.jpg

Columbia Hotel, 43 meters, year ?, demolished for 1301 Gervais Tower (i have horribly mixed feelings; i love the black box and it looks great in its spot, but the old building looks great, too)

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/sc...rds/hotcol.jpg

1301 Gervais Tower

http://www.pbase.com/lsyd/image/30415068.jpg

Carolina Plaza - 1973, height ? (180-200 feet is my guess) demolished 2006; originally a hotel, then a university office building, currently a temporary surface lot, planned to be a 5ish story research office building (phase 1 is seen under construction)

http://www.pbase.com/lsyd/image/38851209.jpg

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Wow, NYC lost some beauties for the sake of big ugly boxes :dunno:

This probably ranks considerably down the list, but the Statler Hotel in Detroit was torn down relatively recently to make way for future development. It wasn't that tall (232' or so), but it was a monster of a building:

http://static.flickr.com/11/15820731_21ff07053c_b.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/14/15810627_a2e1d0077d_b.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/24/53633824_683fe63c99_b.jpg

But, like the Hudsons, they'd tried putting out proposals for redevelopment for years, and no solid ones were coming in because of the sheer size of the building, and the cost it would have taken to redevelop. At least, that's what the city said...