Dominion Building Demolition
On Saturday, May 30th Dominion Energy plans to implode a vacant office building at One James River Plaza in downtown Richmond. This building is located approximately one block northwest of the peregrine falcon nest on the Riverfront Plaza West building.
Although we expect that this implosion may temporarily startle the birds, we are not concerned that it will result in the adults abandoning the nest. The falcon pair is nesting in a highly urbanized landscape and should be well acclimated to disturbances such as loud noises and activity. Furthermore, a disturbance would have to be sustained over time in order to force the pair to abandon their nest at this stage, given the high degree of investment by the parents this far in their breeding cycle. The chick will be 18 days old at the time of demolition and may be mobile and able to venture out of the nest box. However, at this age it will be unable to get up onto the ledge and therefore will not be susceptible to falling off the building as a result of the implosion.
In the event of poor weather conditions (e.g. high winds or rain) which could impact the implosion, or result in extended poor air-quality conditions in the area surrounding the demolition site, the implosion will occur on an alternative date. Click HERE for more information related to the scheduled demolition.