UPDATE: Officials reopen exclusion zone after Macon’s downtown hotel implosion
Crews have reopened the exclusion zone and restored power to the impacted area after the implosion of the former Ramada Plaza on 108 First Street.
UPDATE 1/1/25: Crews have reopened the exclusion zone and restored power to the impacted area after the implosion of the former Ramada Plaza on 108 First Street.
According to Chief Communications Officer at Macon-Bibb County, Chris Floore, no damage has been found on the buildings in the exclusion zone. Cleanup crews continue to work in the exclusion zone.
ORIGINAL STORY (11/26/24):
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The implosion of Macon’s abandoned 16-story hotel at 108 First Street has been scheduled to New Year’s Day, January 1, 2025, at 9 a.m., according to a Macon-Bibb County news release.
“We’re starting the New Year with a bang,” Mayor Lester Miller said in the release. “The way you start your new year is how you spend your entire year, so we’re going big and taking down a blighted building, making way for economic and community development, and bringing people together to remember our past and celebrate our future, all at the same time.”
The scheduled time is nine hours after the originally scheduled stroke of midnight implosion. The county cited New Year’s Day as the ideal time, prioritizing public and crew safety due to reduced vehicle traffic, closed businesses, halted train operations and most people staying home.
The county says the hotel, vacant for more than a decade, has posed ongoing challenges, including theft, vandalism, flooding, mold growth, and structural degradation.
Several groups have tried over the years to bring the property back to life, but none of those plans have come to fruition.
“The current building has undergone multiple rounds of attempts to renovate it, but there are too many challenges in the outdated design and lack of meeting current fire and safety codes to make renovations viable,” the release said. “There’s also too much damage to the building itself from not being used for so long.”
Alex Morrison, Executive Director of the Urban Development Authority, says the building’s outdated design and extensive damage made renovation unfeasible.
“The ceilings are too low for central heating and air to be installed, the parking deck underneath floods whenever it rains too much, there are large holes in sections of the roof, and so much more,” Morrison said. “The best path forward is to clear the site and find a developer to build something that will truly move our Downtown forward.”
Target Contractors has started planning extensive safety measures for the implosion, including health protocols, fire safety, traffic control and debris removal. A public forum will be held to inform residents and answer questions about the demolition process.
“This is going to be quite the sight, and with so many people having a connection to or memories of this building, we want to give them a chance to say goodbye…and then hello to what’s coming next,” Chief Communications Officer Chris Floore said.
The demolition and future development are in addition to plans for future development of the property across Riverside Drive, according to the county, as well as the Urban Development Authority acquiring the former Macon Health Club and other buildings down First Street.
To read more about the future of the other buildings on First Street, including the former Macon Health Club, click here.
