Cape Town - A shuttered city centre hotel will be imploded on March 1 to make way for a new development.
The remaining sections of the Tulip Hotel and Conference Centre will be demolished in a controlled blast at 8am.
On the day of the demolition, an exclusion zone will be enforced around the hotel, according to a joint safety notice by Ross Demolition and Jet Demolition.
Parts of the building on Buitengragt have already been broken down by excavators, leaving its main facade on Bree Street standing.
According to demolition plans, it is this main section of roughly 12 storeys that will be imploded.
Johan van der Merwe, the mayoral committee member for energy, environmental and spatial planning, said everything had been done by the book. “The landowner applied for demolition and due process was followed, after which the application was approved.”
Building plans for a new hotel had been approved.
The now closed hotel had an excellent location, given that it was situated within walking distance of Greenmarket Square, Long Street and the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
But, by 2013 it was receiving disastrous reviews on a the popular global travel website TripAdvisor. It was ranked last out of 103 hotels in Cape Town on the site.
“It was the worst experience ever! 10 mins in this place was enough to send anybody away,” wrote a user in March 2013.
Eight buildings around the hotel will be emptied, and guards posted to stop anyone entering the danger zone on March 1.
All vehicles parked within the exclusion zone will have to be moved by 6am.
Dave Bryant, DA councillor for the Cape Town central business district, said an estimated R4 billion had been ploughed into the the city centre in the past two years in construction-related investment.
Weekend Argus