Shocking fate in store for huge Louisiana skyscraper that was badly damaged by historic 2020 hurricane

A landmark skyscraper ruined by Hurricane Laura in 2020 is being torn down after four years of languishing as an eyesore.

The Capital One tower in Lake Charles, Louisiana, was once a celebrated office building and the town's tallest when it was built in 1982.

Standing 374ft with 22 floors, the tower was an integral part of downtown until the hurricane ripped through in August 2020.

Much of the tower's south side was destroyed and most of the building's thousands of glass windows were blown out.

The Capital One tower in Lake Charles, Louisiana, was once a celebrated office building and the town's tallest when it was built in 1982. Now it is a ruined eyesore

Abandoned and covered in wooden sheets where the shattered windows once were, it sat empty and slowly falling apart ever since.

The city tried to negotiate a sale from its owner Hertz Investment Group to a company that could repair it, but all efforts failed.

Mayor Nic Hunter eventually gave up and announced the building would be spectacularly imploded on September 7. 

'We've been looking at this tower for almost four years. I know that there's a lot of us that wanted to see it saved, but four years is long enough for us to stare at this eyesore in our community,' he said.

Much of the tower's south side was destroyed and most of the building's thousands of glass windows were blown out

Abandoned and covered in wooden sheets where the shattered windows once were, it sat empty and slowly falling apart ever since

Hundreds of destroyed windows in the aftermath of the 2020 hurricane

Blowing up the tower would take about seven seconds - and three months to clean up the debris, he said.

The skybridge and atrium were torn down earlier this week and hazardous materials would be removed before the implosion.

The public will be able to watch the tower come down from outside an exclusion zone around the site. 

All that would remain is the parking garage, which fit up to 600 cars and could be used for whatever was built in the tower's place. 

Massive damage to the interior of the tower that was too expensive to repair

Blowing up the tower will take about seven seconds - and three months to clean up the debris

Laura made landfall at 1am with the strongest winds Louisiana saw since 1856 and warnings that the storm could rip apart buildings and penetrate up to 200 miles inland. 

Residents in Lake Charles had to stay inside with their windows closed and air conditioners turned off after a massive chemical fire broke out at a nearby manufacturing plant. 

Billowing clouds of smoke could be seen near Interstate 10.