By Sunday, Dryden’s Central Hotel will be a flat, vacant lot.
Work to prepare the old hotel began for demolition has been going on for over two months. Crews wearing protective clothing have removed asbestos pipe wrap, asbestos insulation, asbestos pipe wraps and asbestor boiler wrapping. Asbestos is a hazardous material that must be removed and disposed of safely.
The most modern addition to the building was ripped down several months ago.
Starting Friday morning at 7, a pair of front-end ‘diggers’ began clawing through the hotel from the rear.
A job foreman told CKDR (from a safe zone) that people should stay clear of the back alley and that the streets were already blocked.
While so many in the town have questioned the demolition, given the historic nature of the hotel, the ‘white hat’ just shook his head sadly. According to him, virtually every part of the building had mold – especially the older sections and anything below ground level. Main support beams are virtually all rotted with many cracking and failing. In one locatioin, a railway rail had been used to support a floor – and the heavy steel rail was ‘splitting’ from the weight.
The original hotel had been added to at least FIVE times.
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The Central Hotel was a true Dryden icon and a cornerstone of the community at the corner of Earl and King.
The building started as the Sheane Boarding House in 1898.
Thanks to Reflections of Dryden and Area and today’s picture from CKDR, here is a history of the building
