demolition

Crews are working hard to tear down another building that suddenly collapsed over the weekend.

Tearing down the Central Warehouse in Albany has been a hot topic in the Capital Region for years. We may have a solid timeline of when this gigantic eyesore will finally be demolished.

The Starlite Music Theater opened in 1957 and was a popular venue located in Latham. There were many acts that passed through the Starlite until 1997. It was a 3,000 seat theater in the round. In the 1980s I saw Belinda Carlisle of the Go Gos at the Starlite Music Theater. Kenny Rogers, The Monkees, Weird Al Yankovic, Jonny Cash, Run DMC, Diana Ross, and more graced the stage. The Starlite closed its doors in 1998 and laid dormant for years. Then in December of 2012, the Starlite was demolished. Here are pictures of the venue in the summer of 2012 before it was leveled.

There has been a plan for Wilton Mall for quite some time. The first part of the plan is to level Bon Ton and start building luxury apartments. However, there has been some lasting resistance from a few.

If you drive along Route 9 in the Latham/Cohoes area chances are you have driven by this eyesore. It was an operating motel for quite some time, became apartments, and then it declined. Eventually, it was condemned. Now construction crews are tearing it down.

It was announced back in April that a high-end steak house would be coming to the Capital Region. It is the first of its kind in the area. But then nothing else was known. Now there are signs that they are beginning construction.

There are two restaurants that are eyesores in a very busy section of Schenectady. In an effort to revitalize the city, these two buildings will be demolished soon.

Tobin's First Prize operated from 1924 until 1981 in the Colonie building as a meat packing plant. They also manufactured fertilizers, glue, and animal hides, and it became a meat packing operation according to Spotlight News. There were offices, a boiler room, freezers, coolers, a machine shop, two incinerators, a hog pen, and a laboratory. There was a scare recently where demolition had to be halted to deal with a possible ammonia leak. Now all that stands is the 200-foot smokestack. There is no word of when that will be coming down.

There are plans to demolish the buildings this summer, this could be our last look at what was left behind.

I pass the Wendy's on Central Avenue every day on my way to and from work. It was the Wendy's that burnt down back in February and nothing had been done to it after the fire. Now that Wendy's is finally coming down.

The 100-year old Wellington Hotel had sat vacant in downtown Albany for years and in order to get rid of an eye sore and also utilize the space it held in a more useful manner, it had to go. So, in August of 2014, the city of Albany got rid of it. They didn't just get rid of it though, they did it with some pizzazz!

Say goodbye to old, decrepit buildings and hello to well, where they once stood because there is a plan in Troy and things are about to get crazy.