From 1954 to 1970, thousands of people flocked to the New York Coliseum for car shows, stamp collections, even the U.S. World Trade Fair. Today, people gather around the once-famous expo center to see excavators clear the way for a $1.7-billion structure on New York City’s Columbus Circle.

The project, the Columbus Centre, involves the demolition of the Coliseum to make way for a 2.1-million sq.-ft. mixed-use facility. The building is slated to open in the fall of 2003, and will contain the world headquarters of AOL-Time Warner, a five-star hotel, retail, commercial, residential space and a new state-of-the-art facility for Jazz at Lincoln Center, including the first concert hall ever designed specifically for jazz.

The New York Coliseum – built in 1954 under the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, now known as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority – rose on a two-block site between 58th and 60th Streets. By the 1970s the Coliseum was no longer large enough to attract new exhibits and conventions. With the unused for more than a decade, the City formulated a redevelopment plan.

The project, according to New York City Mayor Giuliani’s office, is one of the most important urban development sites in the world and is a key part of the total reconfiguration of Columbus Circle. The City has undertaken a complete redesign of the traffic circle, which will improve traffic flow, expand public space, enhance pedestrian access, and harmonize with the Columbus Centre Site.

New York City-based HRH Construction Corporation is the construction manager for the Columbus Centre. The excavation for that project is being handled by Mayrich Construction, also of New York City, and the demolition is being performed by Safeway Environmental Corporation, Queens, NY.

The six-story high expo center was constructed of concrete waffle slabs. The upper stories of the tower were made of steel frames. Crews are separating the steel, concrete and rebar on site and shipping the materials off site to be recycled.

Some of the steel beams being removed are over 150 ft. (45 m) long, and weigh more than 60 tons (54 t) each. The steel in the beams is more than 1-in. (2.54 cm) thick and the beams are torch-cut on site.

The biggest challenge of the demolition project, according to Safeway Environmental, has been staying on schedule as a result of working in the cramped quarters of Manhattan.

The demolition reaches 22 ft. (6 m) below street level. From that point, Mayrich Construction is excavating down an additional 12 ft. (3.6 m).

Another challenge of the demolition has been staging and timing the demolition of the various sections of this multi-section building. What comes down when is critical, reported the contractors. To help with this aspect of the project, Safeway is running two Hitachi excavators – a 450 with a grapple and a 550 with a Genesis Demo Pro. The machines were purchased from Formula Equipment, Rock Tavern, NY.

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