Demolition begins on unfinished Panthers facility in Rock Hill

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Demolition has begun on the unfinished Carolina Panthers practice facility in Rock Hill.

On Friday, Chopper 9 Skyzoom flew over the site and could see crews using an excavator to tear down the structure. It tore off several beams in the process.

It’s been nearly a year since David Tepper pulled out of the project, and neighbors have called the unfinished building an eyesore. Channel 9′s South Carolina reporter Tina Terry spoke exclusively with the mayor of Rock Hill about what could come next for the site.

Mayor John Gettys told Terry the City of Rock Hill negotiated a deal with a contractor that will allow the facility to be taken down for just $1. In exchange, the contractor would take the steel and also grind up the concrete that makes up the building.

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In December, Channel 9 reported the legal battle over the site came to a close in bankruptcy court. A judge approved a restructuring plan and financial settlement that allowed the City of Rock Hill to get the title to the property.

Since then, real estate firm Colliers International has marketed the site for potential healthcare, hospitality, institutional, multi-family, office, retail, or entertainment use.

The goal is to sell the site, but Mayor Gettys told Terry that tearing down the structure is an important first step.

“If someone was interested in that building they would have shown up, but the cost to finish it out was much higher than anyone had any appetite for undertaking,” Gettys explained.

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Gettys made it clear that whatever ends up at the site will likely provide good paying jobs for people in Rock Hill and the Charlotte area.

“We won’t see warehouses, we won’t see distribution facilities and we won’t see a bunch of housing on there,” Gettys said.

He said the loss of the Panthers may lead to a bigger win for them.

“I think there will be more jobs that people from Rock Hill can take, can earn a good living from, than there would have been otherwise,” he said.

Last month, Terry reported that in order to get a clean title to the property, the City of Rock Hill had to pay up to $23 million. Gettys said that happened two weeks ago.

(WATCH PREVIOUS: Rock Hill mayor: Unfinished Panthers facility to be torn down this week)