Landmark building ready to come down piece by piece

DEMOLITION of a landmark Hobart building could begin as early as this month to make way for an open plaza with restaurants, shops and bars.

Scaffolding will be erected around 10 Murray St before the piecemeal demolition process begins late November or early December.

The slow process is expected to take six months, with concrete cutters chomping at the building from the top down.

The old government office block is being brought down as part of the Parliament Square development.

A Marriott Hotel being built at the site is on track for completion in late 2018.

The 128-room hotel, which marks the debut of Marriott International in Tasmania, will be housed in an assortment of re-purposed heritage buildings.

Marriott regional vice president Sean Hunt was in Hobart yesterday to reveal the name of the new hotel, The Tasman, at a special event in Parliament Square.

Construction manager Barney Phillips said scaffolding would be erected around 10 Murray St and a tower crane placed beside it.

The crane will lift small chunks of concrete from the top down, using cutters perched on the roof. Concrete will be brought to ground level via internal chutes, and the building will be covered to reduce the dispersal of dust.

The 1960s office block was the subject of a long-running campaign to save it from demolition, on the grounds it was a landmark example of 20th century architecture. The appeals were lost.