In a message dated 7/31/98 5:10:24 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<<   - Technology has made demolition an "easy" solution. If we had to
demolish
 'em by hand, there'd be a lot more old buildings standing. >>

I have a neat article from Brooklyn Magazine profiling a retired guy that
worked for many years running the crane & demolition ball to knock down a
major share of the 20th century knockdown in NYC. The photo shows him proudly
standing next to his last ball which now resides in his front lawn. You have
to consider that his trade is historic and that his knowledge will be lost to
the next generations. Sometimes HP requires a bit of artful demolition. One
early project was stripping the outer wythe off of a lighthouse in order to
replace it new. It would have been nice if the demo crew had been HP
trained... but I think they were educated by Augie Busch. They kept carving
their initials into the limestone window surrounds.

][<en