SAGINAW, MI (WNEM) -
Demolition crews began dismantling the former Saginaw Plaza Hotel at 310 Johnson St. in Saginaw yesterday.
The 170-room structure was taken down with a wrecking ball and the empty space will be turned into a parking lot. The former hotel, now owned by the Saginaw County LandBank, is across the street from the Dow Event Center.
Jeff Bierlein, with Bierlein Companies, specializes in demolitions like this one. He's hopeful about the demolition of the former Saginaw Plaza Hotel. "It's going real well. We plan on having the building down today," Bierlein told TV5. And Bierlein was right. The whole structure was nothing but a pile of rubble by 5 p.m.
Now that the job is complete, we wanted to know where all the debris is going.
"We go through all the rubble and recycle anything possible, [such] as metals or concrete material which will be used as other products at a later date," explained Bierlein.
Bierlein said recycling rubble like that of the former multi-story structure has always been a priority in his company. "It's definitely better for the environment if you're not putting a bunch of stuff in a landfill that doesn't need to go and take up landfill space," said Bierlein.
Instead of taking up landfill space, Bierlein estimates 4,500 tons of concrete from the demolition will be recycled for use in other products, like road gravel. "Anything we can reuse or use again is just a positive for everybody," said Bierlein.
The company spokesperson said they are also doing everything they can to make sure particles from the rubble don't end up in our lungs. "We want to make sure to get all the environmental problems out," he said. "The nuisance dust we try to keep to a minimum with water [and] mist."
Bierlein told TV5 that when taking down a building with a wrecking ball, safety always comes first. "We're working as safely as we can and we take the people walking around just as important as the people inside the fence," said Bierlein.
Right now there's no known timeline for when the parking lot will be built in the hotel's place.
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