Hard Rock New Orleans: The hotel that never was
On the morning of Oct. 12th, 2019, New Orleans was waking up to another beautiful day. Tourists were barely awake and natives were doing their morning routine; however, the day would take a turn for the worst and the city of New Orleans would come to a grinding halt.
The Hard Rock Hotel, which sits at the corner of Canal and North Rampart Street, had been under construction for almost four years, with each projected completion date being pushed back.
Looking at it, one would think it still had a long way to go, but it was scheduled to be finished some time in 2020.
However, the tireless efforts of everyone involved in this process were useless as the hotel collapsed around 9:15 on the morning of Oct. 12.
The initial impact of the collapse was deadly, especially to those working inside. A total of three fatalities and 18 injuries were recorded.
Of the three dead, two are still currently trapped in the rubble. They were identified as Quinnyon Wimberly, 36 and Jose Ponce Arreola, 63. The third victim, Anthony Magrette, 49, was found days after the collapse.
Magrette’s wife, Nova Espinoza spoke about the tragic accident saying, “I started crying and I jumped in my truck, and I drove all the way up here and I did not leave since 9:45 a.m. yesterday. I have not slept, I’ve barely even eat.”
Espinoza is one of two other families grieving the loss of a loved one that is left to wonder why and how this could have happened.
After the initial chaos, authorities scrambled to come up with a plan that could safely remove the cranes on the site. The cranes were extremely unstable, literally hanging by a thread.
The first thought engineers had was to take apart the cranes- but how? Further discussion led to the idea of an even bigger crane coming in, but there was one problem- this special crane was in Miami. It was a Mega Crane, one of the largest in the country, and it was on the slow boat headed for New Orleans.
Immediately, crews rushed to get the crane here with a 12–24 hour time frame. This was an eternity for first responders and other crews, Wimberly and Arreola were still in there, their conditions unknown.
While everyone awaited the arrival of the Mega Crane, first responders worked tirelessly to try and find the missing workers who were thought to still be alive. Unfortunately, they only found one, Magrette, dead. He was crushed by the very concrete he created. A tremendous loss, but the rescue team still had to find Quinnyon Wimberly and Jose Ponce Arreola.
On the stormy night of Oct. 14th, concerns started to arise. Will the rain bring down the building? Will the wind topple the dangerously unstable cranes? Of course nobody knew the answer, but they prepared for the worst.
Fire Chief Tim McConnell ordered his crew to attach drainage pipes to the building, one obstacle cleared, but what about the wind? At the last possible moment, Tropical Storm Nestor moved east and spared New Orleans, but not before bringing the wind they all feared.
Fortunately, the wind wasn’t powerful enough to bring down the cranes, but just strong enough to move them about 6 inches. This put more stress on those involved, as they feared a second collapse was imminent.
This gave crews no other option than to send the Mega Crane back to Miami. At this point the cranes were holding themselves up, ready to fall at any moment.
With the Mega Crane useless, crews and engineers had to figure something out quickly. By this time, rescue operations had ceased because the building was too dangerous.
Finally, engineers came up with the idea to demolish the cranes, something easier said than done. One would imagine this would be a military operation, with helicopters lifting the cranes. Though, the city of New Orleans saw it differently.
The plan was to blow the cranes Friday, Oct. 18th, but in true bureaucratic fashion, that didn’t happen. A press conference was held and Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Fire Chief Tim McConnell made the decision because it was too windy.
Naturally, they tried the next day, Oct. 19. It was a gorgeous day with absolutely no wind. The cranes had to be blown up right?
Wrong.
At first the city claimed the explosives weren’t set right and they needed more. A good excuse to not blow up a building! But during this time everyone was focused on the cranes, not what was happening in the background.
The real reason those cranes didn’t get blown up on Oct. 19, a missed payment.
The Hard Rock owners in charge of the $5M transaction, simply didn’t pay it. One would think that’s a high priority situation, but perhaps not in the eyes of Hard Rock.
Sunday, Oct. 20, eight days after the initial collapse, payment had been received. A press conference was held that morning with exciting news, the cranes would finally be blown up. They announced the demolition would occur between 12–5 p.m.
Tourists and locals alike gathered to witness an unforgettable moment. Some grew restless and wandered away from the barricades, while others stood and waited.
At 2:45 p.m., the cranes were finally destroyed. The city claims everything went exactly as planned, but it doesn’t look that way.
The first crane snapped in half and speared N. Rampart St., the second crane also snapped in half, but instead of falling to the ground it fell backwards onto the building. Certainly that wasn’t their intention, but in the end there were no casualties of the crane explosion.
The next step in this long venture is to find Quinnyon Wimberly and Jose Ponce Arreola, still trapped in the rubble. After that, the Mayor says, “the building will come down, it’s been rough for New Orleans.”
The eight days of torment were finally over for the city of New Orleans, and things can start to get back to normal; however, the long process of cleanup and repair has only just begun, as the people of New Orleans brace for the next chapter in the Hard Rock collapse story.
