the commencement of demolition. Bischoff did, though, file a Tort Claim Notice with the City of Terre Haute, dated December 15, 2005, a filing required under Indiana law to allow him to pursue litigation against the city in the future. In the presence of the winter of 2005, however, demolition began almost immediately after the ink dried on the contracts. Demolition Initial demolition of the hotel began during the last week of September 2005, when excavators ripped away the attached two-story section at the rear of the hotel (which contained the Mayflower Ballroom). This section was chosen as the starting point because it allowed crews more room to bring in the equipment needed to demolish the 10-story main portion of the hotel. Workers erected plywood barrier walls along Seventh Street and Wabash Avenue to keep passersby away from the hotel during demolition preparations. This was done in part because of fears that portions of the exterior were in danger of collapsing. These fears were not totally without merit, as a portion of the brick façade on the east side of the hotel had broken loose in July 2005, falling to the roof of the Mayflower Ballroom. The neighboring Bement-Rea Building (which housed a noted local tavern, T's Lounge, until its closure at the end of October 2005) and former Fort Harrison Savings & Loan were demolished along with the Terre Haute House, although some (but not all) historically significant items were removed from the buildings prior to their demise. As the asbestos-removal portion of the demolition entered its final days in early October 2005, Dennis Trucking's John Hanley III told the Tribune-Star that implosion looked like the obvious choice for bringing down the Terre Haute House. However, the owners and tenants of nearby buildings, many of which are also in the Wabash Avenue East National Register Historic District, expressed concern that blowing up the 10-story tower could severely damage or even destroy their homes and places of business. On October 20, 2005, Terre Haute television station WTWO reported that asbestos removal was complete and that a final decision would be announced on the demolition method within a week. The following week, the Tribune-Star reported that the decision, as promised, had been made. Crews would knock down the Terre Haute House with a crane and wrecking ball. Workers took to the roof to remove clay roofing tiles from the highest part