Ithaca Gun Demolition

Rubble is sorted and removed

2009-04-09T20:31:00.001-04:00

On 4/7/2009, not much demolition took place. As snow drifted from the sky on this cold April day, the crew sorted the rubble into piles and placed it into a dumpster to be removed.

Only a shell of the main building remains

2009-04-09T20:16:00.002-04:00

All of the main building has been demolished, leaving behind a metal shell of part of the western side of building. A small brick building still stands near the gorge, and the lake is now visible behind the piles of rubble.

Main building nearly demolished

2009-04-07T12:34:00.000-04:00

On 4/2/2009, the main building was nearly demolished completely. Part of a floor on the leftmost section was pulled down, and the rightmost side is covered by the roof that has been pulled down. The crew worked to clear more debris from the site.

Debris was cleared away

2009-04-07T12:32:00.001-04:00

On 4/1/2009 , the debris that had been created the day before was removed from the site. The floors within the building have also been cleared of debris, revealing some of the structures behind the main building. Finally, the rusty tower to the right of the main building was torn down.

Much of the front buildings removed

2009-04-07T12:30:00.000-04:00

On 3/28/2009, most of the front sections of both rightmost and leftmost sides of the building had been torn down, leaving a lot of rubble behind. The crew worked to separate the rubble into piles.

The rightmost building is demolished

2009-04-07T00:53:00.000-04:00

On 03/27/2009, the front parts of the rightmost section of the building were torn down. In the morning, the first section to be torn down revealed the original brickwork that had been painted over. By the afternoon, another section was removed, revealing the bathrooms.

Almost half way done with the main building

2009-04-04T22:49:00.003-04:00

In this series from 3/24/2009 the demolition folks have made a lot of progress. The main building has been almost halfway removed, revealing some nice brickwork on older parts of it. Parts of the basement where the Mercedes was have been revealed as well. No sign of the car, unfortunately.

Main floor exposed

2009-03-26T22:40:00.003-04:00

After a day's work on 3/23/2009 quite a bit more of the 1917 structure has been removed, exposing the elevated ceiling from what I'm calling the "gallery", so named because of its open floor plan versus the other floors.

Another stairwell exposed

2009-03-26T22:36:00.003-04:00

On 3/22/2009 I took these shots. Work is really progressing!

At this time I'd like to officially thank @alexic for the tremendous amount of help she's been in selecting the shots to put in the albums. She's also been doing some real research at The History Center. Stay tuned for some real scholarly articles!

Guest shots from a neighbor!

2009-03-26T22:12:00.002-04:00

My neighbor @ecormany has been taking shots of the demolition as well, and has welcomed me to link them from here.

Front section completely demolished

2009-03-19T22:56:00.002-04:00

I came home for lunch on 3/11/2009 to find that nearly all of the remaining front section had been leveled. I did manage to catch some of the demolition in action.

Of particular interest is the last photo in this collection. It was taken on the morning of 3/12/2009 and shows the partial roof collapse that happened overnight.

Central part all that remains of front section

2009-03-19T22:54:00.003-04:00

I came back from work on 3/10/2009 to find that most of the front section of the building had been demolished. Some of the interior graffiti has now been revealed.

A little bit more removed...

2009-03-08T22:27:00.001-04:00

Nothing substantial removed between the last group and this one, but the building is now a bit more see-thru.

And the stairwell is a bit more rubbly.

The roof. The roof. The roof is not there.

2009-03-08T21:17:00.003-04:00

Today (3/5/2009) I came home for lunch and saw that they had already removed a side of the building, and were in the process of removing a floor. Perfect opportunity to get these shots in!

Ceiling collapse!

2009-03-08T20:59:00.001-04:00

Today (3/4/2009) I came home to see part of the roof caved in.

As usual, pics are on picasa.

Guard shack and newest wing removed

2009-03-08T20:39:00.001-04:00

In this set of pictures the guard shack and the newest wing have been removed.

Beginning removal of windows

2009-02-24T16:40:00.000-05:00

I've begun taking pictures of the old Ithaca Gun factory as it is being demolished.

Pictures of the factory after they've begun demolition, with some windows removed, but before the guard shack and most recent wing were removed, are available on picasa.