Demolition company slowly clearing mess in front of arts center

ORLANDO, Fla.

Downtown Orlando's well-known round building is finally a pile of rubble, but it doesn't appear that crews are clearing it away very quickly. The building was supposed to be down and the lot cleared before the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts opened last November, but the projectgot way behind schedule. Channel 9's Steve Barrett said that no more than three workers have been seen on the lot this week, trying to clear the massive pile of rubble. The city of Orlando opened the doors of the arts center in November expecting the seven-story bank building sitting out front to be gone. On Wednesday, Channel 9 received a statement from the city expressing regret that the demolition project isn't complete. The statement read, in part: "While we are disappointed that the demolition of the round building has taken longer than anticipated, the demolition process is still ongoing and is continuing as fast as possible." No one from Crusader Demolition, the company hired to take the building down and clear the lot, would respond to Barrett's questions about the project and when the land would be clear. Last month a rival contractor said publicly that his company had warned the city that Crusader Demolition wouldn't be able to complete the job on time. In the statement from the city, officials said they will look into possible penalties when the demolition project is complete. "Once the building is down we will determine the issue of possible fines," the statement read. Crusader is being paid $700,000 for the demolition. It's unclear how much money the fines could amount to.

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Demolition company slowly clearing mess in front of arts center