The unfinished, 10-story Intel building was finally imploded this morning in downtown Austin. This was the largest implosion in Austin's history. It took about 4 seconds for the 5 level concrete skeleton to come down. This building had broken ground in 1999/2000 and was halted in early 2001, (March), and has set unfinished ever since. Intel Corporation halted construction after the dot-com bust of 2000/2001. The site is now the planned location of a $62 million federal courthouse which will be completed sometime in either 2011 or 2012, (pending government funding). Stay tuned, there should be more pictures and video. The demo went off without a hitch although atleast one window was broken in a nearby condo building.
The Austin American-Statesman has updated their page with pictures and video of the implosion of the Intel shell in downtown.
From the Austin American-Statesman
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...nned_offi.html
Implosion went as planned, officials say
By Sarah Coppola,Melissa Mixon | Sunday, February 25, 2007, 09:04 AM
A symbol of Austin’s past crumbled in about 10 seconds Sunday morning, as a crowd of hundreds looked on.
The Intel building, which was partially built during Austin’s tech boom but abandoned in 2001 when the dot-com industry tanked, was imploded at about 7:35 a.m. after a series of loud bangs shook the southwest quadrant of downtown.
It took about 400 to 500 pounds of dynamite to bring the skeleton of concrete and metal down, said a spokeswoman for the General Services Administration, the building’s owner.
The shell did not totally crumble; parts of it only partially collapsed or remained standing.
“I’m not sure they achieved what they were hoping to,” said onlooker George Sabatino, who brought a digital camera to record the blast.
But Shala Greer-Smith, the GSA spokeswoman, said the implosion went as planned. The building is L-shaped and was supposed to fall first at the corner of the L, and it did, she said.
Other parts of the building collapsed around it, as planned, she said. “It wasn’t all supposed to be completely blown up and down on the ground,” she said. Crews will spend the next two months removing the roughly 20,000 pounds of debris.
A a new federal courthouse will be built in its place by 2012.
In true Austin fashion, the implosion became an event, a place to see and be seen. Hundreds packed the sidewalks ringing the site, from hungover college kids straggling in from late-night partying to energetic kids who dragged their sleepy-eyed parents downtown for the the once-in-a-lifetime show.
Lee and Lani Jefferson drove in from Kyle to get a front row seat to the action. They said they felt the sidewalk on Guadalupe, two blocks east of the Intel shell, shuddering beneath them when the booms rang out.
“It was worth the wait here in the cold,” Lani said. “The only way it could have been better is if Hollywood had done it.”
James Collis brought his 9-year-old son Justin to see the blast.
“We wanted to be one of the first ones here,” he said, about an hour before the implosion rang out. “He’s never seen an explosion before and we probably won’t get a chance to see one again.”
Nearly 100 people watched the implosion from the Headliners Club on the 21st floor of the Chase Tower downtown.
Philip Ingram and his family arrived at 6:30 a.m. at the club, where guests were served a breakfast of warm eggs, tamales and sausages.
Ingram and his family recently moved to Austin from Santa Barbara and Ingram said he wanted his children to see a part of Austin’s history.
“Everybody will be talking about where were you when the Intel building fell.” he said.
After the blast, though, Ingram was among the many onlookers confused as to whether the building fell as planned.
“It didn’t go right,” Ingram said. “Now they’re going to have to come in with a wrecking ball.”
The center of the building was sunken, but the edges were still mostly intact.
“It looks about halfway done.” Jim McCullick said, after watching the building fall from the club. “But it was still fun.”
Video of the implosion.
View from southeast.
http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...407_intel.html
View from southwest.
http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...7_intel_2.html
Photo gallery.
http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...507_intel.html
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