The Best Way To Destroy A Building's Foundation. Especially An Old One.

How to kill a foundation
in one easy step

I bicycled past the very quiet Pocketbook Factory on 6th Street today, a construction site with many fewer workers lately.  Then the sound of splashing water caught my ear.   I approached the fence surrounding the building and noticed snow melt pouring off the roof high above and splashing down at the base of the building.  You can see how much the snowmelt and rain have eroded the ground in the corner and wet the stones, the water having no place to go but trickle down to the old foundation and work its magic. 

 

This I could have understood prior to a year ago when the building was still neglected.  But a $15 million renovation project of an ancient building with plans for a spa and hotel, etc., and the owners don't make an effort to divert the water away from the building?  Just plain old foolish!  Makes you wonder if the owners are serious about their project (and if they've run out of money to pay the contractor).
Water was dripping off of the roof on all sides of the building, with little to no diversion from the building's foundation.  On the 6th Street side it was cascading down.