Albany

City officials have approved the plan by Columbia Development to implode the 11-story Wellington Annex on Thursday to make way for the new downtown convention center, the company announced Friday.

The explosive demolition by Maryland-based Controlled Demolition Inc. is scheduled for after the morning rush hour, Columbia said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Kathy Sheehan, Deborah Sturm Rausch, said the exact time of the implosion has yet to be set. She referred questions to Columbia on whether there would be public viewing areas for the blast.

A Columbia spokeswoman could not immediately provide other details about the implosion, including how much it would cost.

"Our priority for this project is to demolish the building expeditiously, safely and with minimal disruption to the city, and this plan accomplishes those goals," Columbia President Joseph Nicolla said in the statement.

The company has been prepping the site for demolition for weeks, and air quality monitoring has determined that all hazardous materials like asbestos have been removed, Nicolla said.

Also on Friday, city police issued a lengthy list of parking restrictions and street closures in the neighborhood starting just after midnight and lasting until approximately 1 p.m. Thursday.

The restrictions include both sides of much of lower State Street below the Capitol and stretch as far east as South Pearl Street.

Earlier this week, Nicolla said Thursday was the only date CDI would be available to do the job, and he said he would only pursue the implosion if the firm, which has built a lengthy resume of high-profile implosions including the Seattle Kingdome, was involved.

Dropping the building with explosives will shave weeks off the project's demolition, which Nicolla said has fallen behind schedule.

Another notable local explosive demolition occurred 43 years ago when, on May 11, 1971, the 348-foot center section of the old Dunn Memorial Bridge was blasted into the Hudson River to make way for the new span.

The brick-and-concrete Wellington Annex is located on Howard Street between Eagle and Wendell streets, where the $66.5 million state-funded convention center is scheduled to begin rising as soon as next month.

More Information Parking restrictions Thursday from 12:01 a.m. to approximately 1 p.m. State Street, both sides from S. Swan to Eagle Street State Street, both sides from Eagle to Lodge Street. State Street, north side from N. Pearl to Lodge Street Park Street, both sides from Lancaster to State Street Eagle Street, both sides from Lancaster to State Street Howard Street, both sides from N. Pearl to Eagle Street S. Pearl, both sides from State Street to Hudson Ave. Market Street, both sides from S. Pearl to Eagle Street Lodge Street, both sides from Beaver to State Street Wendell Street, both sides from Howard to Beaver Street Road Closures Thursday from 7 a.m. to approximately 1 p.m. Parts of Howard, Lodge and Wendell streets. Also from 9:30 a.m. to approximately 1 p.m. Parts of Eagle, State, Park, Lodge, Norton, Beaver, Howard, Market and Grand streets and Hudson Ave. See More Collapse

According to city assessment records, the annex dates to the 1920s. The building went up as an expansion to the Hotel Wellington on nearby State Street, former Assemblyman Jack McEneny said. But as the downtown hotel business declined, the property was sold in the 1970s to the city under Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd, McEneny said.

While the Wellington proper continued as a city-run hotel serving the likes of then-Lt. Gov. Mario Cuomo and his Albany Law-student son, Andrew, the annex served as off-campus housing for upwards of 200 University at Albany students.

The city eventually sold both buildings in the 1980s, McEneny said. They eventually fell into vacancy and disrepair and were sold — along with several other buildings on State Street's Wellington Row — in 2006 by Sebba Rockaway Ltd. to Columbia Development.

In 2009, all but the facades of Wellington Row — including the original hotel — were demolished and are slated to become a mix of office, retail and residential space as part of an unrelated Columbia project.

Whatever the price tag of the implosion, Columbia will be responsible for the cost under its agreement to sell the roughly 1.3 acres to the Albany Convention Center Authority, which is in charge of building the 80,000-square-foot Albany Capital Center.

Nicolla has said the cost is "about a push" with conventional demolition using a mechanical claw and jackhammers but will be weeks faster and cause less disruption downtown.

It was not clear Friday whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo will attend the implosion.

Thursday is also opening day of the New York State Fair in Syracuse — an event typically presided over by the governor.

jcarleo-evangelist@timesunion.com • 518-454-5445 • @JCEvangelist_TU