"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.
