Clock tower demolition debris recycled in Michigan

Demolition on a clock tower on the former Kalamazoo Gazette building in Kalamazoo, Michigan, recently began with the intentions of recycling the demolition debris, reports by MLive and the Western Herald say. The tower was built in 2004 as part of a multimillion dollar expansion.

According to MLive, construction management company CSM Group, with locations in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, Michigan, used a 100-foot crane to disassemble and lower concrete panels from the 70-foot-high tower.

Demolition on the site began Dec. 16, 2016, and will be completed in around six weeks, MLive says. Bronson Healthcare Group purchased the 131,419-sqaure-foot building in April 2015 and plans to create a space that will be used for additional hospital services.

The Western Herald says the company demolished the 1968 and 2004 additions to the building, but plans to keep the original 1925 building and renovating the 1941 addition.

Division President of CSM Group Jim Feltch told the Western Herald that the contractors aimed for the “highest degree of recycling content possible” by preplanning where the materials were going. Feltch said the company contacted several local recycling businesses to make sure they could accept large amounts of material before demolition began.

According to MLive, the property has been vacant since MLive Media Group, which publishes the Kalamazoo Gazette and seven other newspapers, launched in February 2012.