Grand Palace Hotel, New Orleans

The Grand Palace Hotel was a 17-story building located in the Mid City area of New Orleans, Louisiana. The building became known worldwide for its implosion on 22 July 2012.[1]

Construction

Designed by William Nowland Van Powell and Henry Ehrensing[2] as the Claiborne Towers apartment building, construction started in April 1950 at a cost of $10 million.[3] The building was the largest apartment complex in the city upon opening in 1951,[4] containing 1,036 air-conditioned apartments,[3] and was built on land leased from Tulane University[3] by the developer Paul Kapelow.[4]

The lobby was particularly well finished, including terrazzo flooring, wooden panels of black walnut, and a bank of Otis elevators.[3]

History

By 1952, the building featured a wide range of facilities and occupants, including a team of cleaners,[3] a ground floor lounge,[3] a beauty shop,[3] a lingerie boutique,[3] offices of Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, and a Walgreens store.[5]

Perhaps the most famous story from this period of the building's history is when the Jewish-American mobster, Phillip "Dandy Phil" Kastel, was found dead in his apartment by a private nurse on 16 August 1962. He had reportedly taken his own life with a .38 caliber revolver.[4][6]

Construction of the Interstate 10 overpass adjacent to the building in the 1960s proved detrimental to Claiborne Towers' fortunes as an apartment block[2] and it was partially converted in the early 1960s into the Sheraton Delta Motor Hotel,[5] then in 1972 converted to a senior citizens' residence called Delta Towers.[4]

During the 1980s, the elderly residents were evicted in preparation for the building's full conversion into a hotel.[4] The new hotel, the Ramada on Canal,[7] first opened, although at the time incomplete, for the 1984 Sugar Bowl.[5] The hotel was subsequently known as the Crescent on Canal[5] and the Pallas Hotel,[8] before taking on its final name, the Grand Palace Hotel.

Closure and demolition

The building, like many others, was damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and never reopened.[4] During preparation works for demolition,[9] a fire broke out at the building on the 5th July 2012, at the time causing speculation that plans for its demolition might have to be changed.[10] The main demolition of the building (after months of preparatory work) was by implosion on 22 July 2012,[1] a story which was covered by many worldwide news organizations due to its speed of just 10 seconds.[11] The implosion, previously scheduled for the 20th November 2011, then 18 December 2011, was undertaken to make way for the new University Medical Center, a replacement for Charity Hospital, which was also damaged by Hurricane Katrina.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Old Hotel Imploded in New Orleans to Clear Ground, ABC News, 23 July 2012.
  2. 1 2 Green Preservation in New Orleans: A Grand (Palace) Idea, National Trust for Preservation, 19th April 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DOCOMOMO US/Louisiana, Claiborne Towers 1950, 14 January 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 What is the history of the Claiborne Towers?, Blake Pontchartrain™: New Orleans Trivia Column, Gambit - Best of New Orleans, 24 January 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Barrow, Bill (2011). Failed hotel at Canal and Claiborne will leave decades of lost potential in the dust when it blows up. Times-Picayune, 13 June 2011.
  6. ↑ Kastel, Philip (1893-1962). The American Mafia Blog.
  7. ↑ Thoron - The Ramada Inn, 1732 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA, Floor Plans.
  8. ↑ Photo - "Danny Barker Funeral Pallas Hotel" taken 1994, hosted on Flickr.
  9. ↑ Speculation grows over cause of Palace Hotel fire…, Demolition News, 8 July 2012.
  10. ↑ Palace Hotel fire may cause implosion rethink…, Demolition News, 6 July 2012.
  11. ↑ Grand Palace Hotel, New Orleans, demolished in 10 seconds, BBC News, 24 July 2012.

Further reading

Coordinates: 29°57′33″N 90°04′43″W / 29.9591°N 90.0785°W / 29.9591; -90.0785

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