"Awesome" Florida Condo Takedown Delights
Crowd
Palm Beach county residents and out-of-state tourists
gathered on Valentine's day to watch the controlled demolition
of 1515 South Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach, a 30-story
condo tower damaged by Hurricanes Jeanne and Frances in 2004,
and tarnished by concerns of asbestos contamination.
Despite earlier asbestos fears, agency testing had cleared
the building of any requirement for asbestos containment in the
demolition, allowing demolition expert Eric Kelly and his
company, Advanced Explosives Demolition, to set charges that
would bring the structure down in a matter of seconds, ending
up in a 42-foot pile of debris. "I was nervous," Kelly told the
Palm Beach Post
("
Spectators: 'Sad to see 1515 blown up' but 'awesome' demolition
went too fast," by Andrew Abramson). "There are all these
people, all this liability, and it all culminates in the last
minute. But it was perfect. Everything's perfect."
And the crowd was delighted by the entertainment, which is
documented in a
well-produced online video (hosted by BrightCove) from the
Palm Beach Post.