LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Demolition work on the 16-story Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany has begun.
The near 50-year-old structure on Scribner Drive, right off the Interstate 64 West exit into New Albany, is being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. It's expected to take about three months to completely level.
The New Albany Housing Authority said the demolition work would begin after the city's annual Harvest Homecoming Festival, which took place earlier this month.
Crews got to work on Monday. Spectators showed up to watch the building start to come down, some stopping in their vehicles to take photos.
New Albany firefighters watch crews demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
IMAGES | Crews start demolition work on New Albany's Riverview Towers
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
New Albany firefighters watch crews demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Spectators watch crews demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Spectators watch crews demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Crews began demolishing the 16-story, 164-unit Riverview Towers building in downtown New Albany, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. It's being torn down floor by floor using excavators and cranes instead of being imploded. (WDRB photo)
Some of the spectators knew people who lived in the building or worked in the building themselves. Others said they just found the demolition "interesting to watch."
"I know a lot of people have called it an eyesore and everything and then some people they lived here for quite a few years and got to know the building and all that so I'm sure they was sad," said one of the spectators.
Another said he's sad to see the building be torn down.Â
"It's been here for a long time, now when you come off the highway you're not gonna be able to see it anymore," he said. "I just really hate to see it go. But, you know, that's how progress works."
Riverview Towers served as public housing until the city decided in 2020 to tear it down. It was deemed unsafe because of problems such as structural issues, electrical fires and water damage.
All residents of the 164-unit building were relocated. No one has lived in the space since spring, and crews had been in the building preparing it for demolition all summer.
Crews had to remove asbestos in the floor and ceiling tiles before beginning the building's demolition.
The city plans to sell the property once the building is gone. The lot appraised for $800,000 and the housing authority plans to sell it once demolition is complete. Requests for proposals will be issued at that time to determine who will occupy the lot.
It's not clear what type of development will replace the high-rise.
Related Stories:
- Demolition to begin on New Albany's Riverview Towers in October
- New Albany's Riverview Tower to be demolished sometime after Harvest Homecoming Festival
- New Albany to demolish Riverview Towers in 2022
- New Albany seeks to demolish 50-year-old Riverview Towers
- Fire knocks out air conditioning for New Albany public housing high rise
- No power or air conditioning forces evacuation of New Albany public housing tower
- New Albany hotels hold public housing residents waiting out repairs to their homes
- Displaced New Albany public housing residents could spend weeks in hotels, city says
- Some displaced New Albany public housing residents could move back in this weekend
- Fire breaks out at Riverview Towers in New Albany
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