UPDATE: 2.16.2008 – Street closing information
Photo credit: Bob Farley/f8photo
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has begun to raze the vacant Parliament House hotel on 20th Street and 5th. Avenue South. The 11-story, 223-room hotel was built in 1964.
Note: Here’s the post that first announced the approval of the demolition of the building, along with a link to a letter about its now sealed fate. ACN
Ike Pigott on 
Dystopos on 
Chad on 
Alienshards on 
ScottW on 
I went to work at the PH before construction was completed. Met Joe Willie Namath and shook hands with Gov George Wallace, just a few of the celebrities that passed thru those doors. Lots of great memories will go up in dust on Sunday. Would love to hear from former employees for the years 1964-67.
We’ll be posting pictures from the implosion on Sunday morning after 8 a.m. We’ll let you know when they’re up.
I JUST FOUND OUT THE TIME!
Streets will be closed off at 6am…implosion is to take place at 7am….
Parliament House Implosion - Demolitionforum.com Forums // Feb 12, 2008 at 7:29 pm
[...] Parliament House Implosion The Parliament House Hotel in Birmingham, AL is biting the dust Parliament House’s coming down [...]
Follow up to above: according to Bham Wiki, this is scheduled for the 17th, not this Sunday.
I hear that the implosion will be this Sunday, Feb. 10th. I haven’t seen that written anywhere and I don’t have a time. Anybody else know?
Anyone have a time for the demolition? I want to do a facebook event….
Hey Guys,
I’ve got some inside information on how there going to bring that building down. There going to implode it. Boom boom and its all over.
I can’t let this pass without remembering the night I spent at the Parliament House in the late 1970s, as a member of the “snow team” tasked with putting out the next day’s edition of The Birmingham News. I must have been the only woman in the group, because I remember having a hotel room to myself — but there were no towels! As news folk do, we enjoyed ourselves that evening in preparation for rising early (in the days of the afternoon editions). Later the next morning, I found one of my colleagues asleep on top of some file cabinets in the News’ library. Ah, those were the days — and the Parliament House was a sad place even then.
It’ll be interesting to see how they bring down that 11 story building with backhoes…..
Expect a landscaped parking lot for the short term, as UAB has no specific plans for the site.
terdlick
I love this building!
If I were in town I’d chain myself to the overgrown stairwell.
perhaps UAB’ll put something stong in place of it.