RALEIGH, NC – In a bittersweet moment in Raleigh history, Two Hannover Square (aka the BB&T Building) was imploded Monday to be replaced soon by the grocery store chain Publix Super Markets. Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane was pleased with the city’s decision.
“We’ve long needed a decent grocery store in downtown Raleigh and once we heard Publix showed interest in that particular parcel, we moved quickly to make this happen,” Mayor McFarlane announced.
Demolition crews worked fast to place explosives that toppled the 429-foot tall building into a scatter of rubble. Employees who worked in the building were given the weekend to remove belongings.
The vacant lot at the future site of Charter Square made a convenient location and direction to bring the building down. Cleanup should take several weeks.
Several NC State students didn’t miss the opportunity to grab a souvenir. Twitter reports of a giant “&” symbol sticking out of a Tucker Residence Hall window were confirmed as a deeply gouged sidewalk scraped all the way from downtown were visible. “What’s better than a big Ampersand?” said an unidentified student.
Downtown resident Tad Lenefee weighed in, “I could see the BB&T Building from my balcony at night. But it will be nice to not have to drive all the way to the Cameron Village Harris Teeter or that Kroger on Six Forks.”
November 4th, 2014 at 10:39 pm (#)
And yet Raleigh continues to outrank “charlotte usa” on best places to live, do business, raise a family, be single, have sex, get an education…., blow your nose. Your airport stat is a joke. It’s the smallest airport by far in Americans hub network. And watch what has historically happened to “little city airports” with airline mergers….Cleveland, Cincinnati, Memohis….the list goes on. Really, a fake whitewater park and ghetto amusement park? That’s your case? Why didn’t you include 2000 left turns…uh, I mean NASCAR?
November 5th, 2014 at 1:05 pm (#)
Very Ironic how Charlotte is so much “better”….if that was really the case, why do you feel the need to come on a RALEIGH site to bash?? Seems to me that if Charlotte was so much better, the need for bashing would be irrelevant. At least Raleigh has it’s OWN identity…Charlotte is stuck on being the next Atlanta….F#@! outta hea!
November 5th, 2014 at 1:12 pm (#)
My friends flew in from Los Angeles and they visited Charlotte. When they saw the Charlotte vs Raleigh squabble they laughed for a good 5 minutes. BUt…if you Ask someone from Charlotte….they will tell you that their city is in the same league as Tokyo or NYC or L.A…..and he did say that Carowinds was ghetto also. I would recommend everyone on Raleighskyline ignore the negative Posters from Charlotte, this is a Raleigh page….if you want to bash Raleigh, go form a “BashRaleigh site” and stay off of our Raleigh site…unless you come to show love.
November 5th, 2014 at 2:56 pm (#)
Like I said…..we know Charlotte’s got alot. The commercials and billboards are never more than 5 minutes away. BTW, why would Charlotte put so much money into advertising how great they are to the city 2 hours down the road? So I guess your answer to my question of what “better” means, would be bigger and more attractions? I guess quality of life has no bearing…….
November 5th, 2014 at 5:08 pm (#)
Charlotte has a lot!!! are you kidding me with that slogan. This goes to show you how uneducated that city is (no major college or university, no sports championships, other than one bank now, a blue collar city and a low IQ over all. With a low IQ, they must of worked on that simple and pathetic slogan for months “a lot” or did you need to bring in a marketing group because you could not think of “A lot” on your own.
Panthers stink and will be gone in 10 years when they sell that awful franchise (by the way, you still are so far behind “The Triangle” in championships in all sports (Triangle is THE city of Champions)
November 9th, 2014 at 2:59 pm (#)
I agree with defending Raleigh, I’m from here, born and raised, but don’t go talking about my Carolina Panthers!!! PLUS I wouldn’t go as far as attacking EVERYONE in the city of Charlotte either. Saying that they have a low IQ is kind of harsh, and in a way ignorant. I have family there so don’t go talking low I.Q. I am from Carolina, so I love my Carolina sports teams no matter the city. I defend Raleigh against haters (which includes a lot of people from Charlotte), but I won’t discredit the people from Charlotte that actually see Raleigh as an equal. Ease up Andolfo.
November 19th, 2014 at 9:10 am (#)
HAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha that was good
November 19th, 2014 at 9:17 am (#)
Thank you. I live in Raleigh and love Raleigh to death, but the Panthers are indeed the CAROLINA Panthers. They’re our state team! Not just Charlotte’s! And they’re not bad!…….ok yes they are pretty bad this year, but last year was a great season. SLAM NEWTON, BABY! Now, the Hornets on the other hand? HAHAHAHAHA yeaaa-no. Is Raleigh better than Charlotte? I would say so……but again, I also LIVE HERE. I have visited Charlotte maybe two times. BEAUTIFUL looking city, but yes, a bit boring. However, I hardly think two days was enough to gain a clear consensus. I think the friendly debate of Raleigh vs Charlotte is all good fun, but to be completely honest, I like the thought of living in a state with these TWO great cities…. even though, yes, Raleigh is a little greater 🙂
November 19th, 2014 at 10:07 am (#)
Neither city is better than the other. They’re just different!!!
June 3rd, 2015 at 9:52 pm (#)
Triangle isn’t a city, dummy.
January 2nd, 2016 at 1:29 pm (#)
I’m from Raleigh, and I’m not going to go for a team that wears Carolina blue and calls itself “Carolina” lol. They’re not my home team… That would be NC State.
May 22nd, 2016 at 5:23 pm (#)
Wonder how long Publix will last before they realize there’s no THERE there?