UPDATE: Crews with the Florida Department of Transportation imploded the hotel early Wednesday morning. Watch video of the implosion here.
The implosion of a former hotel that had been scheduled for the weekend is now set to take place early Wednesday.
Tampa plans on demolishing the DoubleTree Hotel in its Westshore district, just off I-275, on Dec. 20 around 1:30 a.m., according to the city. The implosion was scheduled for Sunday but was pushed back due to bad weather.
The demolition of the 50-year-old building is part of a project to fully reconstruct Tampa’s Westshore Interchange.
Construction is expected to start in 2024.
Tampa Police will set up an exclusion zone around the nine-acre site on Wednesday.
There will be road closures from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. on West Cypress Street from North Westshore Boulevard to North Lois Avenue; and on North Trask Street from West Boy Scout Boulevard to West Cypress Street.
I-275 on the south side of the property will also be detoured just prior to detonation.
The roads will reopen once the dust settles and cleanup crews have completed dust removal.
