This morning, board members, city housing officials, city lawyers and Procaccianti representatives toured the building, examining the structural integrity and viewing the shattered interior, which has been heavily damaged by asbestos removal work done by the developer over the last six months.

The appeal by the West Broadway Neighborhood Association argued that while the interior may look bad, the building is in no imminent danger of collapse. Procaccianti has also stated that exterior limestone panels may pop off and injure passersby. The appeal discounts this danger.

But in the end, it did not matter how structurally sound the building was: the board determined that because the WBNA was not directly impacted by the demolition, and was not an abutter within 200 feet, they were not capable of halting the demolition with an appeal.

“They couldn’t meet the minimum threshold of an aggrieved party, so we couldn’t hear the case,” said Building Board Chairman Steve Nappa.

Perhaps 20 minutes after the appeal was dismissed, the wrecking balls began to demolish the building.

Project superintendent Steve Perfetto said the developer would be opening up the west face of the building today and removing debris gathered on those floors. Total demolition could take eight weeks, but within two, the building should no longer be recognizable, he said.