Convention Center Comes Tumbling Down In the end, the demise of the old Washington Convention Center resembled more of a deflation than an implosion -- the squat structure, at its tallest roughly the equivalent of a four-story building, didn't have far to fall. It died about 7:30 a.m. yesterday in a roughly 20-second ballet of crackling explosives, toppling walls and a large cloud of dust that marked the spot where on Dec. 10, 1982, city officials had hosted a grand opening reception. This time, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) presided over a gathering at the newer, flashier convention center a...