Saturday had been built up for weeks as Sioux Falls prepared to blow up the tallest building in the state (at a paltry 210 feet) within view of downtown. Tickets were sold to benefit MS research for the chance to be the one to push the button to topple the Zip Feed Tower. Over 20,000 people were expected to turn out for the festivities (I'm not sure how many actually did).
Amy and Xander decided to take a drive that direction to see what they could see while I stayed home with Maia. At 12:55pm I heard the boom and was kind of surprised when I didn't hear any kind of after effect, but wrote it off due to the fact that we live a few miles from the tower. About ten minutes later, Amy and Xander came in and were obviously underwhelmed at the once in a lifetime event they had just witnessed.
Apparently the building proved more stubborn than the explosives placed in its columns. It began to fall, found fresh purchase in the basement and came to rest in the hole, leaning precariously to one side. We've now got our own leaning tower for a few days to remind us of how overblown expectations for an explosion can be.
Plan B is to bring in a crane and wrecking ball to finish the job. It will take a few days to get the gear in place and maybe a few more to finish the job. I'm hoping to get a few pics of my own to post in the next few days, but you can see some pics at CNN.com, argusleader.com and other news sites.
While I've not heard anything official, it's almost certain that the Zip Feed Tower, though still standing, is no longer the tallest building in South Dakota.
2 comments:
I just saw the video replay of that on argusleader.com. That is one of the most hilarious things I've seen lately!
Building: 1
Explosives: 0
It made the local news last night, and Good Morning America this morning! We thought it was pretty funny too! And you had front row seats!!!
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