THE COMING LOCAL HP IMPLOSION 
Two former Hewlett-Packard office buildings from the original Compaq World Headquarters campus at the corner of Hwy. 249 and Louetta will be demolished in a “controlled demolition” on September 18th. The 2 buildings, a 1,200-car parking garage, and a central chiller plant were purchased for $12.6 million by the Lone Star College System last year, as an extension to the 8 buildings the former North Harris Montgomery Community College System bought a year earlier to create its new University Park campus. But it’s clear the college was mostly interested in the parking spaces that came with the latest purchase. According to the terms of the sale, HP itself will manage the implosion of the 2 buildings, before turning over the resulting “usable green space” to the school. LSCS facilities guy Jimmy Martin explains the reasoning: “The cost to properly maintain the buildings in a ‘mothball’ state until they might have been needed in the future is $1.25 million annually. It was more cost-effective to have the contractor tear the buildings down as part of the purchase agreement.” [Champions Sun; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Geoff Sloan [license]
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Get these guys to talk to Harris County about the Astrodome.
I’m willing to bet that in five years or less, they’ll be asking for a bond vote to build a new $20 million building on that same sight. They’ll get it because Houston area voters (and tax-payers)are so clueless that they’ll “forget” that a perfectly useful facility was torn down that would have only cost $6M or so (based on the yearly mothballing cost). Americans will never learn.
I agree with you Jon….I think the buildings to be imploded were built in the very late 80’s, which really isn’t that old. What a waste!
They’ll build another parking garage within 5 years. WITH LESS PARKING SPACES!
3 things. Right now, every government entity is tight for money so the money spent on mothballing the buildings could mean a lot of people laid off instead. So if they were spending the money on empty buildings, you’d be complaining about them wasting money on them. The college isn’t paying for the buildings to be destroyed–HP is.
Finally, if they need the buildings in 5 years, which I doubt, the cost of updating and remodeling would very high. Technology has changed since the ’80’s. Newer buildings would be much more energy efficient.
Likely the building I worked in at Compaq…. Nothing like a pink slip the day before your insurance is set to take effect. Tax payers also got stuck with the bill for 249 thanks to HP, those buildings are fine modern and I’m sure could be used for something, and what college doesn’t need more parking?
It’s not any faster or safer to implode buildings this size. These people just wanted to see something go “Boom”.
With a mechanical approach to the demolition, debris is generated from Day 1. With an implosion approach no debris is leaving the site while the buildings are getting prepared. Then all the debris comes at once and it still has to be downsized mechanically in order to be loaded on trucks.
As far as a “safer” approach all one has to do is look at the safety records of the contractors doing the demolition.
Does anyone know at what time the demolition will occur?