New Orleans Hotel To Be Blown Up

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — After months of delays, the planned demolition of the Pallas Hotel on Canal Street in New Orleans has been set.

State contractors are scheduled July 22 to implode the vacant hotel to make way for permanent poles and utility lines that will service the new University Medical Center being built in the area. The implosion is expected to last fewer than 10 seconds. Heavy dust resulting from the implosion will travel about 150 feet to 175 feet from the building's footprint.

The Times-Picayune reports (http://bit.ly/KfAIJN ) the city will close streets, within a five- to six-block radius of the building. Interstate 10, a raised portion of which runs next to the property, also will be closed.

The closure was expected to last at least eight hours