Stirring Final Stage Of Brewster-Douglass Buildings Demolition Documented By Time-lapse, Drone Video
(CBS Detroit) - Video cameras captured the final days of the Brewster-Douglass buildings over the past months. The demolition was paid for through $6.5 million in federal funds.
In March of 2014 the final phase of bringing down the iconic vacant Detroit housing project began. The housing project stood for many years abandoned and decaying. Now the last four 15-story high-rise buildings along I-75 are gone and the site leveled.
Crews apparently for the demolition company Homrich used heavy equipment to take the buildings apart instead of a controlled explosion. The time-lapse and aerial shots show an up-close and personal view of a high reach excavator and a wrecking ball doing their work. Implosion was not used in this demolition due to the proximity of the freeway. MLive reported Detroit Housing Commission Executive Director Kelley Lyons said tearing the high rises down a few floors at a time was the safest choice.
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The video posted to Detroit Drone's YouTube channel Thursday, September 18 highlight the project. Detroit Drone is an aerial photography and video business owned by Harry Arnold of Detroit.
Construction of the housing project started in 1935 with the six high-rises completed in 1955. It holds a place in many residents' memory with up to 10,ooo people living there at its peak.