Photo: Gilmer Inn demolition continues
By July 2, 2016
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The Gilmer Inn demolition project has been harried with challenges since crews began tearing down the former downtown establishment on Monday, according to city public information officer Joe Dillon. First, he said, workers had to use a three-ton jackhammer to clear a path for equipment to reach the site. Plus, the building is so sturdy, Dillon said it’s “putting up quite a fight.” As of Friday, about 30 of the old hotel rooms were demolished. The city, which bought the property late last year, will convert it to a green space until other options arise. “Contractors tell us they’ve never seen this amount of reinforcing bar used in a concrete building anywhere,” Dillon told The Dispatch. “Not only is there a lot of it, the size of the bars is also double what they have seen in similar buildings. One of the foreman at the site said the hotel was ‘built like a bomb shelter’ from the ground up.” Photo by: Mary Alice Truitt/Dispatch Staff
Columbus demolition Gilmer Inn
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