Collapse of Lafayette Building in Detroit 2-23-10

This is raw footage from one of our cameras on the scene of the collapse of the eastern elevator bank of the Lafayette Building in Detroit. The collapse occurs at the 1:15 mark and happened at 4:30 a.m. the night of Feb. 23, 2010 (early morning of Feb. 24). The excavator operator fought with the wall for about an hour as the building shimmied and shook as he tried to push it in. If you look carefully or at full screen, you can see it twisting before the collapse.
We had several photographers on scene and will be posting an edited version of the footage showing multiple angles soon.
The Lafayette opened in 1924 and was designed by noted theater architect C. Howard Crane, who also did the Fox Theatre in Detroit. The demolition follows a lengthy preservation battle to save the unique Italian Renaissance landmark.
For more on the Lafayette Building's history and for photos, go to www.buildingsofdetroit.com.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Detroit
• Lafayette
• Building
• collapse
• demolition
• BuildingsofDetroit.com

[14toskr]

Don't SAVE or create any jobs that would utilize office space.And don't demolish any burned out houses. Stay focussed on destroying Detroits history so it looks like you are accomplishing something. It makes much more sense to hire one person to run the demolition machine than a crew of people to remodel the building.

[zbake11]

This is progress in the city of Detroit.

[FuriousPumpkin]

collapse at 1:14

[TitaniumByFire]

@6969Wolf6969 That's one fancy parking lot or deck you've described, because that is probably what will be built back, one day.

[TitaniumByFire]

@garycalgary Vacent buildings aren't the problem in Detroit, jeez, how do buildings cause crime, noise, and social fisfunction ?????? Vacent structures are one of the symptoms, not the cause.

[tommy19470rocks]

@tommy19470rocks well like 1:19

[tommy19470rocks]

was there someone in the thingy at 1:21 on the right

[garycalgary]

lol why was i not invited to this lol

woo hoo this is titilating

[garycalgary]

@14toskr Show nothing but sarcasm no matter what people do. Don't see the positives about the fact that abandoned buildings which contribute to urban blight are some of the cause of problems just be angry and bitch. Sit back and be an armchair critic and snidely criticize instead of being involved in the process and contributing to positive change

just be angry