# Buildings and structures demolished by implosion



## Jim856796 (Jun 1, 2006)

In the controlled demolition industry, building implosion is the strategic placing of explosive material and timing of its detonation so that a structure collapses on itself in a matter of seconds, minimising the physical damage to its immediate surroundings. This is a thread for buildings and structures which have been demolished by way of implosion (use of explosives).


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## ThatOneGuy (Jan 13, 2012)

Landmark Tower, Fort Worth
















Demolition video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79sJ1bMR6VQ


Hudson's Department Store, Detorit (World's tallest controlled demolition)
















Demolition video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP1HJoG-1Pg

Aladdin Hotel, Las Vegas
















Demolition video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRaNwPGcQcM

Key Bank Building, Salt Lake City
















Demolition video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8iO4TQsp9Y


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## DemolitionDave (Mar 22, 2007)

The Landmark was actually located in Dallas, Texas.


The Dayton Hudson store was so big that a Christmas they had over 20 Santa Clauses. The basement was 8 floors deep and they had an elevator with a turntable built in it so you could drive tractor trailers into the elevator and unload them 8 floors below. Then they would spin the tractor trailer around and send it back up.


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## Jim856796 (Jun 1, 2006)

Actually, the Landmark Tower was in Fort Worth.


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## ThatOneGuy (Jan 13, 2012)

Southwark Towers

















Gettysburg observation tower









Kingdome









Ocean Tower


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## DemolitionDave (Mar 22, 2007)

Jim856796 said:


> Actually, the Landmark Tower was in Fort Worth.



I should have known that. I worked on the Plank One Tower for a while.


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## Kanto (Apr 23, 2011)

1515 Flagler in West Palm Beach Florida:






Landmark Hotal & Casino Las Vegas Nevada:


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## ThatOneGuy (Jan 13, 2012)

^^ That's really weird how it broke perfectly in half...


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## DemolitionDave (Mar 22, 2007)

ThatOneGuy said:


> ^^ That's really weird how it broke perfectly in half...



It wasn't supposed to. The only thing keeping it from falling backwards into the nightclub next to it was luck!


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## Jim856796 (Jun 1, 2006)

Implosions in the Las Vegas area:

1. Dunes Hotel Tower 1
2. Dunes Hotel Tower 2
3. Landmark Hotel and Casino
4. Sands Hotel and Casino
5. Hacienda Hotel and Casino
6. Aladdin Hotel and Casino
7. El Rancho Hotel Tower
8. Desert Inn Augusta Tower
9. Desert Inn St. Andrews Tower and Palm Tower
10. Castaways Hotel and Casino
11. Bourbon Street Hotel and Casino
12. Boardwalk Hotel Dreamland Tower
13. Desert Inn Parking Structure
14. Stardust Hotel and Casino
15. Monte Carlo Parking Structure
16. New Frontier Hotel Atrium Tower
17. Tropicana Hotel Lowrise Wing
18. Flamingo Parking Structure


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## ThatOneGuy (Jan 13, 2012)

Prudential Building, Houston:


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## Jim856796 (Jun 1, 2006)

I want to take a chance to document the earliest building implosions, specifically those that pre-dated the 1993 implosion of the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas. Some of the earliest building implosions took place during 1972, with the Traymore Hotel in Atlantic City, and the first of the 33 blocks of the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex in St. Louis, Missouri. Any other building implosions which took place during the 1980s or 1970s decades or before that?


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## DemolitionDave (Mar 22, 2007)

The first implosions occurred after the Great fires in San Francisco and Baltimore in the early 1900's. They imploded structurally unsound buildings that were left standing. There also were a lot of structures that were imploded in the UK after WWII.
The list of implosions in the 1970's and 1980's is pretty extensive. There were hundreds and hundreds of them. Some of the more prominent ones were the Baker Hotel in Dallas, Edgewater Gulf Hotel in Mississippi, the Biscaya Hotel in Miami, The Deauville Hotel in Atlantic City, The Dixon Inn and the Wayne Minor Housing complex in Kansas City. I've worked on over hundreds and hundreds myself and I only started in 1982.


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## Jim856796 (Jun 1, 2006)

Other building implosion which took place during the 1970s:

* Wilson Mendes Caldeira Building, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1975
* Blenheim Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1979
* Oak Gardens and Eldon Gardens, Liverpool, England, 1979
* Washington Duke Hotel, Durham, North Carolina, 1975


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## ThatOneGuy (Jan 13, 2012)

Beautiful video:


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## DemolitionDave (Mar 22, 2007)

Rochester and Strood
Felling Flats in Gateshead, Newcastle
The Biltmore Hotel in Oklahoma City
The Stroh's Brewery in Detroit
Traveller's Building in Boston
Air Force Building in Baltimore
2000 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston


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## Jim856796 (Jun 1, 2006)

The Northwest National Bank Building in Minneapolis was imploded in March 1984 after it was severely damaged in the 1982 Thanksgiving Day Fire.


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## One Sky (Dec 29, 2010)

Mendes Caldeira Building - 1961~1975 - São Paulo/Brazil





























http://www.saopauloantiga.com.br/edificio-mendes-caldeira/


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## DemolitionDave (Mar 22, 2007)

Jim856796 said:


> The Northwest National Bank Building in Minneapolis was imploded in March 1984 after it was severely damaged in the 1982 Thanksgiving Day Fire.


I remember that. It was one of the biggest financial hits the insurance industry has ever taken. I also remember a laborer finding $40k in a false ceiling.


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## DemolitionDave (Mar 22, 2007)

Mendes Caldiera was tricky because there was a subway station about 15 feet away.


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