'Extreme Makeover' demolishes home, Hallmark Homes begins 106-hour countdown

Posted: Thursday, October 22, 2009 7:55 pm | Updated: 9:45 pm, Thu Oct 22, 2009.

By Peter Adelsen Perspective staff writer padelsen@kokomoperspective.com | 0 comments

BUNKER HILL -- Just after 11:00 a.m. Thursday, a home that has stood its ground for decades was only a cloud of dust with tons of debris. It was a site one may see after a direct hit from a tornado, but it was not.

Thursday marked an end to an era for the current Cowan-Brown family home. It was demolition day for ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and the custom builder, Hallmark Homes.

The crowd of hundreds of volunteers stood in front of the home and cheered as two excavators destroyed the home in a matter of minutes.

Now that the home is gone, the 106-hour clock is officially ticking. As for what the home will look like, that is still uncertain at this time. But, Hallmark Homes president Paul Schwinghammer says the family only wants a house where they can live.

"Their main focus was they wanted a nice house that they can breathe in and live in," Schwinghammer said. "They really weren't concerned about any special amenities other than a nice, basic house."

After weeks of planning, he says the hard part of preparing is over and it is just a matter of execution.

One thing that makes this project very different from previous ones is that this time there is a camera.

"A lot of it is hurry up and wait, because we are having to wait on cameras and we're having to wait on personalities to take and re-take and shoot different scenes," he said. "We have been warned of the process. They'll come and stop us when we need to stop. They'll let us go when we need to go."

Even with the camera on them, he says the time should not be of any issue.

"It's all built in, so there shouldn't be too many difficulties," he said.

As for the goals for Thursday night, Hallmark Homes CEO Derek Wilder said they are trying to get the footer dug.

"The main goal, depending on the rain, is to be framing on it tomorrow," he said. "Sometime tomorrow if we can start framing, I think we would be on track."

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