Want to blow up the old Union Carbide building?

Mar 07, 2009 (The Charleston Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- UK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Want to blow up a building? You can, for the right price.

The University of Charleston will conduct an eBay auction for the chance to push the button to implode the former Union Carbide headquarters in South Charleston.

Interested parties can place their opening eBay bids on March 11. The auction is scheduled to close March 20. Bidding starts at $100 and all proceeds will go to the university's annual fund.

The auction's winner will get a front-row seat with UC officials and the chance to push the plunger to implode the 11-story brick building on March 28.

Dow Chemical Co. donated the structure, known as Building 82, to the university in 2006.

University officials plan to sell the 6.5-acre site once the remains of the building are removed. UC is paying about $1.6 million to demolish the 106,000-square-foot building.

"We hope that demolition of the building will make the site attractive to a buyer who will bring new economic activity into that area of South Charleston," said UC President Ed Welch in a prepared statement.

"We're excited to see how much interest there will be in the opportunity to push the button that brings the building down."

The land is priced at about $3.5 million.

Cleta Harless, UC vice president of administration and finance, said about eight commercial developers have shown interest in purchasing the South Charleston property.

"There are not too many places with flat real estate with easy access to the interstate," she said. "That should be attractive to someone, we hope."

University officials initially planned to convert the building into classrooms, faculty office space and living quarters for pharmacy students.

That plan was dropped when UC determined that it would cost up to $10 million to bring the building up to Americans with Disabilities Act standards, Harless said.

The university also considered the land as the site for its softball field, but UC was able to secure property through the city of Charleston for that project, she said.

Dow acquired Union Carbide in 2001.

Carbide built the building in 1948. It once served as its regional corporate headquarters.

"There are so many retirees that are interested in this event ... most of them have fond memories of the relationships they made and they built as Union Carbide employees," Harless said.

"Union Carbide and Dow Chemical are so important to our community, and this building is symbolic," she said. "It's with sadness that we have to take the building down, but it's also an opportunity for future growth for the city of South Charleston and the region."

In preparation for the demolition, the tunnels that went from Building 82 under MacCorkle Avenue have been sealed off and the fiber optic line that ran through the building has been rerouted, according to UC.

O'Rourke Wrecking, based out of Ohio, and Demolition Dynamics out of Tennessee will demolish the building.

The public is welcome to attend the scheduled demolition on March 28. The eBay auction can be monitored at .

Reach Veronica Nett at veronican@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113.

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