The folks charged with blowing up old buildings at UT’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have set a January 8th date for the big dynamite surgical event meant to knock down what’s left of the institution’s Houston Main Building. The hulking 18-story tower at 1100 Holcombe Blvd. was built in 1952 for Prudential Life Insurance as part of Houston’s first-ever suburban office campus, designed by architect Kenneth Franzheim. The Med Center institution bought the building in 1975, but began the long demo process early this year.
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A notice in M.D. Anderson’s online employee newsletter warns demo fans to stay away from the early morning implosion. “There’s not any place you can go to view this thing and really see what’s going on,” declares project director John Chachere. But the article promises video footage of the controlled demolition will be distributed afterward.
After the debris is hauled away (which will likely take several months, according to the notice), the site will be “restored to a park-like setting.” A sculpture on site, called the “Wave of Life,” will be returned to its current location once the building is gone.
- Prudential building implosion – January 8, 2012 and Safety perimeter map (PDF) [arch-ive.org]
- Previously on Swamplot: M.D. Anderson Tower Will Go Out with a Bang, Kill It in One Big Boom, Or Piece by Piece?, M.D. Anderson’s Quiet Preservation Effort: Peter Hurd’s Prudential Mural Has Left the Building, Sure Looks Like Demolition This Time: M.D. Anderson Begins Taking Down the Prudential Tower, Will M.D. Anderson’s Contractor Bungle the Largest Fresco Rescue Ever?, The Prudential Tower’s Grand Entrance, Before Its Not-so-Grand Exit, Update: M.D. Anderson Not Demolishing Former Prudential Tower Yet, Just Hacking Away at It a Bit, Report: M.D. Anderson Begins Demolishing Med Center Icon
Photos: Candace Garcia
7 Comments
So where is everybody planning on watching this from?
Park-like setting until their next expansion.
@JM: Looks as though eastern suites at the Holiday Inn on 6800 Main will have a front-row seat for the demo… Swamplot viewing party anyone?
Park like setting? I thought there were plans to build something new at this location ?
While catching the bus at the TMC several times, I’ve noticed that you get a pretty good view of the upper levels of the building. You might be able to catch the top fall from there, or better yet, standing on the walkway to get from the buses to the metro rail might offer you better views.
Demolishing this ugly Kenneth Franzheim building can’t come fast enough. His architecture needs to be removed from the Houston skyline.
@ 6
All of it? My, my.