Demolition begins at Holiday Inn in downtown Huntsville to make way for new project
Lucy Berry
The Huntsville Times
al.com
A new chapter began today in downtown Huntsville.
The 270-room former Holiday Inn on Williams Avenue came crumbling down this morning to make way for CityCentre at Big Spring, a $70 million mixed-use project that will feature a new-to-market boutique hotel, parking deck, 30,000 square feet of restaurants and retail stores, 53,000 square feet of office loft space and 200 multi-family apartments. The structure is expected to break ground in April.
The Holiday Inn across from Big Spring International Park and Von Braun Center was open for about 40 years and served a variety of guests, including late rock ‘n’ roll legend Elvis Presley. The facility, which was a Hilton before being rebranded in 2005, closed in December 2013 and hosted a massive liquidation sale a month later.
RCP Companies, which is building CityCentre with Central Realty Holdings of Greenville, S.C., and Strand Development of Myrtle Beach, S.C., has plans for Phase II of the development. The second $30 million phase will include a 130-key urban hotel and 50,000 square feet of mixed-commercial and office loft space.
The Huntsville City Council voted to spend $227,250 in November to have Hardiman Remediation Services dispose of asbestos throughout the building. The asbestos and bottom-floor carpet were removed earlier this month prior to the start of demolition.
City of Huntsville Director of Public Works Terry Hatfield has said demolition will end no later than March 31.
Check out the demolition in the AL.com video below: