The Hotel Sterling - How Convenient Was The Flood

The headline of today's (September 21st) Times Leader reads, "Sterling gets death sentence". It appears that the waters from the raging Susquehanna seeped through the flood walls and inundated the basement of the old hotel with up to 6 feet of water. The city of Wilkes-Barre took in two engineering firms to assess the damages and the conclusion was rip this thing down before it collapses. The engineers estimated that 50 million gallons of water flowed through the structure damaging the already weak foundation and structural steel. They also stated that the building is in immediate danger to the public and it should be torn down immediately. For the supporters of the old grand hotel, this is a blow right to the nuts. They were hoping that the owners, CityVest were going to remodel the hotel to make it a show place for the downtown. This is not going to happen!

I have a few questions concerning the Sterling. If the structure is in danger of collapse and the public is in danger, why did the city of Wilkes-Barre give CityVest 30 days to haul it to the ground. The city is putting up barriers to close off the lanes of traffic closest to the hotel. Drew McLaughlin, spokesman for the city said the city believes the detour being placed around the structure will ensure public safety and at this point is not demanding that CityVest meet the 30 day deadline for the demolition which will cost between $800,000 and $1,000,000. WHAT! WHAT! If the building is going to collapse at any second, those freakin barriers are not going to do squat! Either the building is not ready to collapse or the city is taking the easy way out and putting people in harms way.

My second question is why 30 days? I'll tell you why, it's 30 days so CityVest can secure a government grant to wreck the place. That's why! CityVest is a shrewd group and they realize that they got the shitty end of the stick with the Sterling. The flood waters were just a great excuse to find the structure in danger of collapse so they can get a government grant to rip it down. There will be government dollars flowing into the area because of the flood and I bet they will get exactly what they need. One million bucks to rip down the grand old lady.

Question 3, did the city purposely let some flood water through those walls knowing that it would flow right into the basement of the Sterling? I don't know, but I wouldn't put it past the powers involved with this no win project. There is nothing like a good conspiracy theory and this could be the case here. The bottom line is the city of Wilkes-Barre along with CityVest let the Sterling deteriorate to the point of no return. Of course the place is going to hell with all the windows busted out, the roof leaking and the back torn off. What in the ever livin' hell did they expect. What did these morons think, everything inside would stay in pristine condition? I think this was a carefully orchestrated plan which will end up costing the taxpayers a bundle. The flood of 2011 was the perfect opportunity to raise the dagger and plunge it right into the back of the Hotel Sterling. In 30 days or so, we will be burying history here in Wilkes-Barre. That's one thing the city does very well.