Final plans coming together for demolition of Mapes Hotel

Scott Sonner

Friday, Jan. 14, 2000 | 4:32 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Blowing up the Mapes Hotel will cause less disturbance and send less dust into the air and the Truckee River than would a traditional demolition with a wrecking ball, city officials said Friday.

Demolition bosses, law enforcement and city officials held a briefing at City Hall to outline the final pieces being pulled together for the scheduled implosion of the historic hotel-casino on Jan. 30, Super Bowl Sunday.

Preservationists have lost two attempts in Washoe District Court to halt the demolition. But a hearing is scheduled on a separate federal lawsuit before U.S. District Judge David Hagen on Jan. 21 in a last-ditch effort to save the 12-story, art deco building.

That suit claims that blowing up the Mapes will cause the release of toxic pollutants in violation of the federal Clean Air and Clean Water acts.

The 52-year-old brick hotel-casino sits on the banks of the Truckee river. It was the first in the nation built for the purpose of housing a hotel, casino and live entertainment under one roof.

County and city officials refused on Friday to discuss the allegations in the federal lawsuit because they have been named as defendants.

But city officials said in background briefing papers issued to reporters that the "conventional ball and crane demolition actually produces more (dust), just not all at the same time.

"We anticipate that the implosion will not create the magnitude of disturbance and silt that a strong rainstorm would produce."

That position was echoed by Merl Jessop, air quality specialist for the Washoe County District Health Department's Air Quality Management Division.

"This one cloud of dust will be quite small compared to what you could have for a long time along the river," Jessop said.

"It will be far less than if you used a conventional wrecking ball," he said.

The implosion is set for 8 a.m. on Jan. 30 because Sunday mornings typically are the least busy in terms of traffic and pedestrians.

Five hundred holes are being drilled into strategic points in the structure's columns, where 250 pounds of dynamite will be inserted and ignited to trigger the collapse of the building.

The collapse should take about 7 seconds, with a dust cloud sending particulates 100 to 150 feet, depending on the wind, said Douglas Loizeaux, vice president of Controlled Demolition Inc., the Maryland-based company hired to drop the building

In strong wind, the cloud should clear within 2 minutes, he said.

"Hopefully everything will back to normal within a few hours," he said, and a four-by-seven block area closed off downtown will be reopened to traffic.

The federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the Truckee Meadows Heritage Trust says the city has failed to obtain adequate input from a federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, as required for all buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"The planned destruction of the Mapes Hotel by demolition charges will cause the release of asbestos and lead into the atmosphere," the federal lawsuit states.

Jessop said he has been in charge of overseeing asbestos removal.

"I can truthfully say it is one of the finest abatement jobs that could have been done," Jessop said.

"There is nothing in there that contains asbestos to our knowledge at this time," he said.

City spokesman Chris Good said he wanted to emphasize that the scheduling of the implosion on Super Bowl Sunday was "just a coincidence."

Super Bowl Sunday is a big day for local sports books taking bets on the football game and casinos throwing parties. But the City Council specifically rejected proposals to turn the event into a celebration, he said.

"This is not a celebration," Good said. "We are doing this very seriously and as quietly as you can bring a building down."