Raleigh Convention Center Coming Down Piece By Piece

RALEIGH, N.C. — Instead of going out with a bang, the Raleigh Convention Center is being torn apart piece by piece.

The old convention center is being torn down to make way for a new hotel and underground parking deck.

Officials said some of the equipment inside will be used at the Progress Energy center and Wake County schools. The facility manager said salvaging the equipment inside will save the city more than $500,000.

Once crews finish removing the equipment, excavation will start, bringing more changes outside. Audio messages and signs will warn pedestrians that sidewalks on Wilmington and Lenoir Streets will be closed sometime in mid-October. Two lanes of traffic will also be shut down.

"There's so much debris that has to come in and out of the building and then when we get into the excavation, 27,000 haul trucks have to come in and out of the site," project manager Chris Zananiri said.

In the next couple of weeks, crews are going to start erecting a fence around the Convention Center and will start the process of removing asbestos.