Towering over downtown Lake Charles, its shattered windows covered with rotting wooden boards, the Capital One Tower is a stark reminder to residents and passersby on Interstate 10 of the devastating damage Hurricane Laura wreaked on the southwest Louisiana city four years ago.

Now, after years of pondering its future, the tower faces its final fate: a planned demolition.

Demolition of the tower is scheduled for Saturday morning. Local police authorities will establish an “exclusion zone” around the tower starting at 6:30 a.m., which will remain in place until the debris is cleared.

The tower has been in a state of disrepair since Laura’s 150-mph winds tore it apart. Its owner, California-based Hertz Investment Group, has repeatedly promised to repair the building once it has reached a court settlement with its insurer.

Hertz estimated that it would cost $167 million to bring the 22-story tower up to code. Insurer Zurich refused to pay that amount, even arguing that the $67 million it had already paid to the real estate company was too much. Eventually, the two parties agreed on an undisclosed amount.

Built in 1983 by the Calcasieu Marine National Bank, the tower struggled for years with low occupancy. When hopes that petrochemical companies with plants across the river would move their offices there failed to materialize, the tower proved to be a few sizes too big for downtown Lake Charles.

In 2008, Hertz purchased the tower for $7 million, according to mortgage documents. It housed several local businesses and organizations, the Lake Charles office of the FBI and Capital One Bank, which gave it the last of many names the building has borne over the years.

Nevertheless, it was never completely filled.

After years of promises and no action, the city intervened in the litigation and received a promise to finance a $7 million demolition trust fund if the company left the tower in its dilapidated state for another two years.

Now, about two months before the deadline, the company is using the funds to demolish the building on its own.

Hertz, which owns several properties in Louisiana and the South, including the Hancock Whitney Center and Energy Center in New Orleans and the Regions Tower in Shreveport, tried to sell the tower before deciding to demolish it. The company still owns the land on which it stands, as well as an adjacent lot and a parking garage.

What will happen to the property is unclear. Hertz Investment Group did not respond to a request for comment.

“Bittersweet” is how Mayor Nic Hunter described the tower’s ultimate fate. “Four years is long enough for our community to have this very visible tower of decay,” Hunter said in an emailed statement. “Once demolition is complete, this will be a developable site with a number of potential uses.”

There have been repeated attempts by the city to locate a hotel complex in the area to house the lakeside convention center that borders the soon-to-be-vacated property.

The demolition of the tower is becoming one of the most notable social events of the year, with themed events and private parties surrounding the demolition.

At the Panorama Music House, owner Jay Ecker is hosting a “Goodbye Tower Happy Hour” on Friday night. Ecker, who also sits on the board of the Downtown Development Authority, has mixed feelings about the demolition.

“It was part of Lake Charles’ history,” Ecker said. But, he added, “you can also look at it as a milestone in the recovery after Hurricane Laura. Because we’ve been watching this thing since 2020.”