Grand’s Island View Hotel to be leveled

Mayor A.J. Holloway will press two buttons simultaneously Sunday morning to bring down the Grand Casino Island View Hotel, south of U.S. 90 on Casino Row in Biloxi.

Cherry Demolition, a firm hired by Harrah’s Entertainment, is imploding the 12-story structure, which housed 500 hotel rooms, banquet rooms, retail shops and a restaurant, to prepare the site for what Harrah’s executives have told Holloway will be part of a $1 billion resort.

Biloxi Police will close to the public a four-block stretch of U.S. 90 – from Oak to Cedar streets and north to First Street – about 5:45 a.m. Sunday. Police this week have visited nearby property owners to notify them of the implosion.

The U.S. Coast Guard will prohibit marine vessels from traveling within 500 feet of the Grand property line Sunday morning, which will limit boating in the Biloxi channel that adjoins the Grand site.

Jim Redyke of Dykon Explosive Demolition Corp., which has been contracted by Cherry to implode the building, said that when Holloway presses the buttons Sunday about 6:15 a.m., a series of primer cord explosions – eight to nine seconds of half-second explosions – will ignite blasting caps that will have been placed at key points in the 12-story structure.

Redkye, a 30-year demolitions veteran, said the center part of the structure will collapse initially, followed by its northern and southern sections.

Police estimate that traffic in the four-block section could be detoured as late as 7 a.m.

To see Grand’s Island View Hotel as it appears today, click here.

To see a video sampling of Dykon’s previous demolition work, click here.

To learn more about Cherry Demolition, click here.