Restricted Areas For Capital One Tower Implosion This Saturday In Lake Charles

This Saturday, September 7th, 2024 the skyline of Lake Charles, Louisiana will be forever changed. That is because, at approximately 8:00 am Saturday, the Capitol One Tower in Lake Charles will be taken down.

Seeing Lake Charles without the 22-story building towering over the downtown Lake Charles area will be strange. Here are some cool facts about the tower you may not know.

• Construction on the building started in 1981 with completion in 1982.

• A year later, the grand opening of the building was on October 1st, 1983.

• It cost 45 million dollars to build to skyscraper.

• There are 22 floors in the building, two escalators in the atrium, and eight elevators.

• From ground to roof, the building stands 314 feet.

• The building houses 400,000 square feet of office space.

• When it was first built, the CM Tower was named after the old Calcasieu Marine National Bank. It was then bought by Hibernia Bank and named the Hibernia Tower until Capital One Bank acquired Hibernia Bank and the tower was then renamed the Capital One Tower in 2005.

• The tower takes up four acres which includes an attached parking garage.

• The building features an all-glass exterior finish and the building has six sides.

People have been taking to social media to post what they think should be put in the tower's place. People are saying they would like to see a hotel resort, a concert venue, a string of restaurants and shops, and more.

Are you planning on watching the implosion? There are certain areas of downtown you will not be able to be in to watch it due to safety.

The areas of downtown you will not be allowed to be in include Veterans Park on Lakeshore Drive to the Lake Charles Event Center and you can't be on the front lawn of the Lake Charles Event Center on Lakeshore Drive.

Then Lakeshore Drive from Memorial Park to Pujo Street, Broad Street to Ryan Street, and it continues South on Ryan to Price Street will all be blocked off. You will also not be allowed to park your boat in the back of the Lake Charles Event  Center.  The Lake Charles Police Department and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office will be enforcing the closed-off areas.

Places you can watch the implosion include the I-10 Beach, the south side of the Lake Charles Event Center by Millennium Park, and if you want to take your boat out and sit in the middle of the Lake.