The remains of the Cosmopolitan on the Canal project continued to smolder today as a small crew of firefighters worked to
put out remaining hot spots. They were using a crane to demolish a portion of the building's remaining facade so they could
reach some of the smoking remains of the $33-million apartment and retail development, said Mark Conover, a spokesman for
developer Flaherty & Collins Properties. He said company officials, insurance adjusters and structural engineers are waiting
for the fire department to clear the site before determining whether any of the building is salvageable. (IBJ Photos/Cory
Schouten)
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It certainly appears that all the fire damage to the main building was on the upper floors so it seems hard to believe that they couldn't at least reuse the concrete pedestal.
They seem to be almost untouched by the flames.
Can anyone give any info on the financial state of Flaherty and Collins?
I'm betting the culprit will be some worker who left a heater running so that paint or drywall mud would dry overnight, or a homeless person who started a wood-scrap fire to stay warm on a cold night.
My assumption is that it isa a total loss. Feel bad for all involved, and again, thank God no one was hurt.
This is a blog... a place to continue discussion! Not stifle it! If you don't like the opinions, don't read them... or provide facts to dispell them... just saying, I know it's not arson isn't convincing... did you investigate the site and are you trained to do so? Unless they posts are offending (vulgar language, blatant slander, etc.), people should be able to post what they want. And the IBJ just hosts the discussion, they don't endorse what everyone says on this thread.
Sorry, that was my first thought. I read all the explanations here last week (and bought into them), but fires do not burn that quickly without assistance.
Additionally, an experienced arson investigator says that there will be civil lawsuits which will delay the re-building, and that the stigma of arson will taint the project. Oh well. For old timers like me, we can take comfort in recalling the delays of Circle City Mall and the years of driving by blocks of craters, on main street, no less! Trust me, that was worse.
A quote from the feds above... so, if we didn't speculate, no investigation? My point above, proven. If we all had just been guilted into speculating that it wasn't arson (and that everyone is an angel) and not investigated it, we would have never known one way or the other.
So, for everyone that thought it was just an accident, and in no way could believe it was arson... I say HA!. Now the question that remains, is who did it?
But, here's one way to speculate... it's probably either a mad employee/contractor (that was fired, laid off, etc.), a mad neighbor (that didn't want the project near them) or F&C. I highly doubt it was a random act of arson. So there's my speculation SE Guy.
Sad indeed when somebody has to torch what could have been (and i hope will still be) such an asset to downtown.
Maggots who did it will get theirs. Karma's a bitch, as they say. :(