By AP
DETROIT –
Demolition of a former downtown Detroit riverfront landmark has begun.
Crews started work Friday morning on the vacant, 55-year-old Ford Auditorium concert hall.
The demolition is part of Mayor Dave Bing's plan to tear down blighted houses and buildings across the city.
The Detroit City Council voted earlier this year to demolish the 5,000-seat auditorium, which once housed the Detroit SymphonyOrchestra.
Ford Auditorium opened in 1956 and has hosted speeches by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X but has been vacant since the symphony left in 1989.
The cost of demolition is about $755,000.