On May 26, 2007 at just a few minutes past 6:00 AM, OSC (Ontario Specialized Construction) demolished the building at 50 High Street via implosion.

I selected to stand in an alley off Main Street to watch. I was there at 5:15 AM, after riding my bike the 5+ miles down Main Street from my corner at Niagara Falls Blvd to the alley near High Street and Main. Actually those of us who migrated to this area were directed, by men wearing little plastic ID cards that said OSC on them, to stand in the alley off the street.

The social scene this created is a whole other story as folks jockeyed for their desired vantage point in the alley. The early birds chased the late comers to move to the rear. Sometimes this happened with less than neighborly inflections to their voices.

However, I was early, stood my ground, and was comfortable with the resulting view.

The implosion happened somewhat unceremoniously. There was a series of sirens and horns from the fire trucks and police cars surrounding the area. This first blast of horns at about 5 minutes prior to detonation and then another one about 30 seconds preceding the first sound of explosion.

I was impressed with the loudness and power of the series of detonations. We could feel the concussion of the blasts vibrate through the alley. It was very loud. Within in seconds all the explosions had fired, the building crumpled in on itself and the dust rose into the sky. The dust moved with a very light wind south down Main Street, actually darkening the sky. Within minutes the dust settled and the pile that was the 14 story building at 50 High Street lay on the ground within the fencing that perimetered the target site.

One little boy in the crowd asked his dad "Are they going to do it again?"


More shots of implosion at http://www.pbase.com/dhnieman/50_high_implo