Tear the roof off

We here in Syracuse have a problem. One of our main highways, Route 81, is currently cut in half with a detour due to a disintigrating building ready to fall on it. This drama has been unfolding for weeks now and yet 81 remains closed, and the building remains standing. The owner has been letting this structure fall in to disrepair for years now, and claims that rt 81 caused it to fall apart in the manner that it is now. I'm no insider on this story but it sounds like this guy is full of crap.

In the meantime, the city has taped off the property and given it the old "condemned" treatment while the owner has not allowed the city access. So right now there's a stalemate and a pissing contest rolling in to one. While nothing is being done, traffic is being diverted to the streets where it has become an ugly logjam.

Although this is the dominant news in Syracuse right now with around the clock updates, it is not what bothers me. The thing that baffles me are the quotes by the state on what it will take to knock it down. Initially the figure stood at $500,000, which sounds like a lot to destroy a building. Perhaps it's vicinity to the highway was the reason or special permits were required, whatever. Lets say that's a reasonable figure. Fine.

Next thing you know, the figure jumps to $2 million. How the hell does the price to knock down a building quadruple to that astronomical kind number? There was a letter to the edior recently saying that if the city supplied him with 50 men and a bunch of kegs, he would take care of it for free. Then the rumors started the price would now by $3 million. And that is just plain disgusting.

I highly doubt that it would even take $3 million to even build that structure. I can only guess that the state is giving these figures because they are in a hole right now and trying to get some revenue. I could be completely off base here but there just seems to be no justification for the price of a demolition to increase by six times over the course of two weeks. It would benefit the city if some enterprising individual should throw some dynamite in the place in the middle of the night. At least that way I could stop hearing about it.