A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is set to be demolished Saturday
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — An abandoned 22-story building in Lake Charles, Louisiana — once an icon in the city that became a symbol of the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Laura and Delta — will be demolished Saturday after sitting empty for nearly four years.
Weather permitting, the Hertz Tower’s implosion is scheduled to occur around 8 a.m. CT. The tower is expected to collapse to four or six stories, according to the city’s website.
Formerly known as Capital One Tower, the building has been a dominant feature of the city’s skyline for more than four decades. But after a series of hurricanes ripped through southwest Louisiana in 2020, the building became an eyesore, with broken windows and shredded tarps.
For years, the building’s owners, Los Angeles-based real estate company Hertz Investment Group, promised to repair the structure once they reached a settlement with their insurance company Zurich in court, The Advocate reported. reported. The estimated cost of bringing the building back up to code was $167 million. Ultimately, the two parties settled for an undisclosed amount.
The demolition is being funded with $7 million in private money secured by the city. Hertz still owns the property and the future of the site is undetermined, the city said.
Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter described the building’s planned implosion as “bittersweet.”
“I know how hard the city tried to work with different development groups to save it, but ultimately … it was too much of a challenge,” said Hunter, who was in office during the hurricanes. “At this point, I’m ready for a solution. It’s been four years. It’s been long enough.”
Lake Charles, located on the banks of the Calcasieu River and a two-hour drive from Houston, is home to about 80,000 residents. Although the city is known for its lavish festivals, bayous, casinos and Cajun atmosphere, it has also been called America’s “most weather-beaten city” by the Weather Channel.
Hurricane Delta crashed into the coast in southern Louisiana in October 2020, just six weeks after Laura had taken a similar, devastating path to the U.S. Gulf Coast. By then, Lake Charles was already reeling from the damage caused by Laura, which had damaged roofs, claimed more than 25 lives in the region, and left mud and debris in the streets.
The Hertz Tower is an example of the city’s long road to recovery from two back-to-back hurricanes that caused an estimated $22 billion in damage, according to the National Hurricane Center.
While much of Lake Charles shows signs of rebuilding and growth, buildings remain in disarray and residents are living in the same conditions as they did four years ago: waiting for financial relief to rebuild their homes, searching for affordable housing after hurricane devastation exacerbated the housing crisis, or locked in court with their insurers to receive fair compensation.