Lashkowitz high rise ready for implosion

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) -

The infamous Lashkowitz high rise in downtown Fargo is scheduled for implosion tomorrow morning at 7 am.

Friday was a busy day, as crews worked, making preparations for Saturday morning’s implosion, but they’ve been hard at work for months.

“The project’s been going on since about January, and we’re just coming right now to the spot where we’re going to be imploding it so we spent the first entire six-seven months of the entire project cleaning all the hazards out of the building,” explains CEO of the Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Chris Brungardt. The high rise has been public housing since it was built in 1970 and after demolition a new, 110-unit, affordable housing project, named Lashkowitz Riverfront will begin construction.

For over 50 years the Lashkowitz high rise has been a focal point of the Fargo skyline, but the age of the building has some residents concerned about the air quality post-implosion, but city leaders say, there’s no need to be worried.

“Everything that is hazardous in there has been cleared out. We’ve been tested by an independent engineering company, an environmental engineer, the state department of environmental quality has been out and checked and cleared us,” assures Brungardt.

Brungardt says the building had asbestos, lead pipes, and fluorescent lamp ballasts removed as a precaution.

“Just to make sure we’re even going to have air sampling sites all around this, north, south, east, west, just to collect samples to make sure we know what’s going out there,” says Brungardt.

If you’d like to witness the implosion in person, Brungardt suggests checking out Veterans Memorial Bridge, the community theater section of Island Park, or the old power plant in Moorhead.

You can also watch the implosion from the comfort of your home by streaming it live on our Valley News Live Facebook page.

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