CHAMBLEE, Ga. — A towering office building that stood for 45 years is nothing more than a pile of rubble after a planned implosion in Chamblee.
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The 18-story glass tower on Century Boulevard collapsed in seconds when crews set off explosives to bring down the more than 200-foot-tall building.
Dave Savignano, owner of Cartersville-based Atlas Demolition, said Bryan Mims from Channel 2 that it requires extensive engineering to strategically place explosive charges and time detonations.
“And in two seconds the building should be safely on the ground,” he said. “It usually takes two to three seconds.”
NewsChopper 2 captured the implosion from above, showing the building collapsing inwards as smoke and dust filled the surrounding area.
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The demolition took place after a $91 million project to convert the building into 289 apartments was abandoned because the project was deemed unfeasible.
Highwoods Properties, which owns the building, was unable to find a new use for the aging structure.
Built in 1981, the tower previously housed the U.S. Department of Revenue until 2024.
The building’s triangular shape presented an additional challenge for engineers preparing for the implosion. The plan was to collapse the structure on itself, with the collapse expected to take about two seconds.
MEMORIAL OF THE IMPLOSION OF THE GEORGIAN DOME
Chamblee’s demolition brought to mind another major Atlanta-area implosion: the Georgia Dome in 2017.
The stadium, opened in 1992, was once the second largest indoor stadium in the world. It has hosted the Atlanta Falcons, Georgia State Panthers, two Super Bowls and Olympic events.
The Georgia Dome was also the only U.S. stadium to host the Summer Olympics, a Super Bowl, and the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four.
Its implosion paved the way for the now neighboring Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The demolition of the Chamblee office tower marks the end of another chapter for a long-standing feature on metro Atlanta’s skyline.
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