Fort Worth: Building Implosion

[John R]

I got up early this morning to photograph a building implosion in Fort Worth's Medical District. It's the old Medical Tower at the corner of 8th Avenue and Rosedale. This building was only 2.5 miles from my house, and it was constructed in 1962 or 1963. It was only 8 stories tall and is being replaced by a new office building that is 5 stories and more than twice as large.

The first shot was taken just when the charges went off.




















Everything went very well, and within a few minutes, they let us get very close. Here is a final shot of the pile of debris left behind.

[ColDayMan]

Neat!

[Tom In Chicago]

Great set of shots John. . . seems like there was an imploded building back when I was there years ago. . . right downtown even. . .

. . .

[KevinFromTexas]

Great photos. You really captured it well. I haven't seen that building from all sides, but from that angle at least it seemed to have some architectural merit. I know it's just a blocky 60s concrete monster, but it did have a certain style to it.

[RockMont]

I'd like to see the image of the one that will replace it.

[John R]

Tom in Chicago:
We've imploded three buildings in the last few years: a former city's tallest in downtown called the Landmark Tower, Amon Carter Stadium, and the Medical Tower.

Below are photographs of all three before demolition.

Landmark Tower


Amon Carter Stadium


Medical Tower


Kevin from Texas:
In several polls, including one on my website, the building has placed in the Top 10 ugliest in the city. I personally don't think it was all that great. In my last photo of the pile of rubble, you can see the city's tallest building in the background, Burnett Plaza.

Rockmont:
Here is the rendering of the replacement building. It is actually under construction to the right of the building demolished.

[RockMont]

That new building looks pretty good. Better than that tacky looking parking garage, and I'll go find a look at the new TCU football stadium too. Probably on google.

[John R]

I actually have some photos of the new stadium. TCU played their first game there on September 8th. I don't have any good up close or interior shots. However, I'm taking a private tour at the end of this month.

[RockMont]

That stadium looks pretty good. Did they actually tear it down, and rebuild it, or did they just re-facade it?

[John R]

They demolished about 80% of Amon Carter Stadium at TCU. Only the field and the lower bowl seating remained. The west stands that I have pictured were imploded on December 5, 2010. The east stands remained until the end of the 2011 football season, and then they were demolished by wrecking ball. The east stands were smaller and not as tall. TCU continued to play football at the stadium during the construction.

[rockyi]

Great set. It was kind of a blah-looking building anyway.

[John R]

A lot of people in the city thought it was ugly. There are a couple of other buildings nearby that are equally as ugly and it would be nice to have new facades put on them or have them replaced.

[Austinlee]

buh-bye

[mr.John]

Too bad that fat head on the left got into all your shots,a well placed slap would've taken care of that

[John R]

He was sitting down until the last siren went off. I didn't want to step away from the camera because I knew the time was near.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Neat stuff. I don't know what it is that's so fascinating about building implosions, but they're fun as hell to watch

[John R]

I've always found them to be fascinating. I've attended most of them here in Fort Worth since 1972.

[Buckeye Native 001]

I have a copy of the front page of the Kentucky Post from 2002 hanging up in my room from the day after Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium was imploded. Lots of sentimental value in that place, since I spent my summers there watching Reds games.