A Georgia city will blow up an old hotel to greet 2025

MACON, Ga. (AP) — One Georgia city will welcome 2025 with a larger-than-average bang. The Macon-Bibb County Commission on Tuesday approved a plan to implode a vacant 16-story hotel at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Macon-Bibb County spent $4.5 million last year to buy the hotel in a federal bankruptcy proceeding. Media outlets report that the city-county agreed Tuesday to hire a demolition firm to blow up the building at a cost of up to $2.6 million. The hotel opened in 1970 and its guests included Elvis, but it was never a financial success. Macon-Bibb Mayor Lester Miller says the hotel isn’t structurally sound and can’t be renovated.