Terre Haute House - Demolition Starts in Earnest

Demolition Starts in Earnest

Initial demolition of the hotel began during the last week of September 2005, when excavators ripped away the attached two-story section at the rear of the hotel (which contained the Mayflower Ballroom). This section was chosen as the starting point because it allowed crews more room to bring in the equipment needed to demolish the 10-story main portion of the hotel.

Workers erected plywood barrier walls along Seventh Street and Wabash Avenue to keep passers-by away from the hotel during demolition preparations. This was done in part because of fears that portions of the exterior were in danger of collapse. These fears were not totally without merit, as a portion of the brick façade on the east side of the hotel had broken loose in July 2005, falling to the roof of the Mayflower Ballroom.

The neighboring Bement-Rea Building (which housed a noted local tavern, T's Lounge, until its closure at the end of October 2005) and former Fort Harrison Savings & Loan were demolished along with the Terre Haute House, although some (but not all) historically significant items were removed from the buildings prior to their demise.