Grand Old Lady (Watt & Shand) Of Lancaster PA
After more than a decade of dispute over what was to be done with the former Watt & Shand building, her future was determined.
Penn Square Partners, the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority and the Redevelopment Authority of the city of Lancaster, the current building owner, decided to build a 300 room Marriott Hotel and 220,000 square foot convention at the former store site, and along the east side of the first block of South Queen Street.
Penn Square Partners put together a construction package to construct a motel and convention center. The demolition of the buildings on this city block was put out to public bid, and Empire Wrecking of Reading PA was awarded the contract to remove the Watt and Shand Structure and several other structures to make way for the new motel and convention center.
Empire Wrecking mobilized with several pieces of equipment, a John Deere 330 excavator with a 66’ long reach boom and a Hitachi 450 with a 91’ long reach boom, and assorted other pieces to support the long reach excavators equipped with there grapple and shears. Empire started on the south end of the project dismantling several structures by hand, working closely with the Lancaster Historical Society to save a piece of history in Lancaster.
The Watt & Shand sign, which was removed from the building in the fall, is currently in storage and may be reincorporated into the building, donated or sold, this is yet to be determined.
Presently Empire is dismantling the Watt & Shand structure, while a structural steel to stabilize the ornate limestone façade store front is to remain as the new front of the motel that is plan for construction. Empire is carefully dismantling the six story structure from the rear working toward the front of the building. They are removing elevators, escalators, and stairwells which all structurally tie this building together, which was put together in several additions over the years as the business grew.
Empire has to cut the structure away from the front façade by hand back to the first column line as not to disturb the front façade, as well as remove this structure which towers 2 to 3 stories over adjoining structures. On the south side of the Watt and Shand structure towers or an adjoining structure that is adorned with a slate roof that is over a 100 years in age. The project management and field supervision has spent many hours devising a method to protect the fragile slate roof and still able to remove the tons of brick above.
This is a project that the city of Lancaster, PA can be proud of when completed, as well as the Empire is proud to say they are happy that they had a very competent construction management team of Reynolds Construction, Penn Square Partners and the Cooper Carey Architects, and the Lancaster County Historical Society.
