Posted on 12/03/2005 4:40:39 PM PST by skeptoid
(Click here to see an ArgusLeader.com video of the failed implosion)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Thousands of spectators gathered Saturday to watch the demolition of the city's tallest building - but the Zip Feed Mill tower was stronger than it looked.
The 202-foot-tall concrete structure dropped slightly, leaned a little - and stopped.
The abandoned feed mill elevator in downtown Sioux Falls paled in comparison to structures such as Chicago's 1,450-foot Sears Tower or even North Dakota's 242-foot state Capitol in Bismarck, but it was widely considered the tallest building in South Dakota.
That was enough to draw people outside, with temperatures in the teens, to watch the demolition.
Crews had drilled holes into the tower's supporting columns and stuffed them with explosives, intending to drop the tower into a heap of rubble.
However, the tower collapsed into the structure's basement and got wedged, said Eric Schuler, project manager for the Henry Carlson Co., a general contractor. The structure was stable and crews planned to return on Monday to knock it down with a crane, Schuler told KELO-TV.
"It's not an exact science," said Schuler. "We'll get it down safely."
The site's co-owners, Raven Industries Inc. and Howalt-McDowell Insurance Inc., had turned the event into a fundraiser for the Dakota chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and sold $1 raffle tickets for the chance to trigger the blast.
A loan office won the drawing and passed the honor onto Jeb Huisman, a 30-year-old finance officer for the nearby town of Garretson who suffers from MS.
The tower was opened in 1956, one of the most modern feed elevators of its time, but ceased operations in 2000. It sits on a bare lot in an industrial section just east of downtown along the Big Sioux River in this city of 134,000.
For much of its history, Sioux Falls' largest employer was a livestock meatpacking plant. But about 25 years ago, Citibank moved its credit card division to Sioux Falls and started a change toward more white-collar jobs.
The Zip tower is being replaced by a $15 million office and retail center, and possibly a new events center. Construction could begin this spring.
The raffle tickets raised $25,000 for the charity. Corporate sponsorships, VIP admissions and T-shirt sales were expected to raise the total past $140,000.
While the Donkey Ball finals resume at the Corn Palace....
Daschle will find some way to blame Bush. He will say if we had more resources at home instead of Iraq this wouldn't have happened.
That be Thune country now!
Strange but true; the highest office building in Texas is the Coronado Towers in El Paso.
Couldn't they have just hired some muslims to do the job? I hear they're pretty good at taking down buildings.
They're going about it all wrong. They just need to get a bunch of Yoopers after the second week of deer camp and tell them they can't do it.
Yabbut at 200' it wouldn't be worth their trouble. They got their site set on much bigger prizes. Besides, there's no innocent people in abandoned grain elevators.
A 202 ft. wedgie in it's bottom.....ouch.
They don't build 'em like they used to!
I think a good cowboy could lasso that sucker and pull it over!
Geez, even tenement buildings in Brooklyn are better looking than this ! /chuckle
The video of this blooper at the ArgusLeader is priceless!
Just rename it the "Leaning Tower of Sioux Falls"
Charge admission etc...
Money to be made here...
The "honor"? Of pushing the button and not bringing down the building properly?
Now THATS a skyscraper !!!
Built in 1931, survived a collision with a B-25 bomber, and standing tall to this day!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.