The partially constructed Midtown hotel that burned in January, during what police say was an act of arson, has begun to come down this week after a demolition order.
Anchorage Fire Chief Jodie Hettrick said Alaska Demolitions had a contract to take down the C Street structure, a half-built Marriott Courtyard hotel that burned Jan. 26 between International and Tudor roads. Alaska Demolitions employees confirmed that the work had begun Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, an excavator was tearing into one of the structure’s first-floor walls amid burned debris from its upper levels.
APD spokesman MJ Thim said Thursday that "nothing new" was available on progress investigating the fire.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is also assisting APD, after sending a team to investigate what firefighters estimated at a loss of $17 million to $20 million in the blaze.