An empty 16-story building located in downtown Macon, Georgia, will be the center of a New Year’s celebration to ring in 2025.
The former hotel will be blown up on the morning of Jan. 1 at 9 a.m. EST.
“We acquired this property to blow it up,” Macon Mayor Lester Miller said in a press release.
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The hotel was purchased by Macon-Bibb County for $4.5 million in a federal bankruptcy proceeding and the county is willing to spend up to $2.6 million to hire a demolition firm to blow up the building, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
“The way you start your new year is how you spend your entire year, so we’re going big and taking down a blighted building, making way for economic and community development, and bringing people together to remember our past and celebrate our future, all at the same time,” Miller added in the release.
Originally opened in 1970, the hotel is known to have hosted Elvis Presley before being seized in 1991 by the New York Banking Department, alleging it was an asset involved in a fraud case, according to the AP.
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The last operating business that occupied the building was in 2017, the Ramada Plaza.
“Several groups have tried over the years to bring the property back to life and capitalize on the ongoing and increasing success of Downtown, but none of those plans have come to fruition,” said the Macon-Bib County Government press release.
The release went on to say, “The current building has undergone multiple rounds of attempts to renovate it, but there are too many challenges in the outdated design and lack of meeting current fire and safety codes to make renovations viable.”
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A neighboring church has expressed concerns about any possible damage the explosion could have on its historic sanctuary.
Russ Henry, a member of the vestry that oversees Christ Episcopal Church, told the AP that the church would like officials to be more cautious with their plan.
“It’s an eyesore to the whole community, we would love to have something else there… We just want to make sure that our church doesn’t get blown up on our bicentennial,” he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Macon-Bibb County Government for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
