Spectators flock to Amway implosion
by Tiffany Teasley

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) – In a matter of seconds the 23-year-old Amway Arena came crashing down, disappearing in a plume of dust.
“It was incredible … it was like, ‘Wow,’” said spectator Patrick Byrne.
“I was like oh my God, what is happenin?” said Juliet Patterson.
With camera phones and iPhones in hand, spectators like 12 year old Patterson and her father surrounded Lake Dot to watch the action. They say it didn’t fail to impress.
“I thought it was really cool,” said Patterson. “I just really liked how they made it collapse on it.”
The four corners of the Amway were left standing to shield the blast from nearby buildings and will come down mechanically. Richard Zahn from ZMG Construction says the implosion went off without a hitch.
“Everything went exactly as planned,” Zahn said. “The hope was that as the roof came down, we were going to pull all the walls in and in fact that’s exactly how it happened.”

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Cleanup crews used leaf blowers and street sweepers to clear out the dust that settled in the area, and residents had to tape off their doors and windows, but demolition crews say the weather helped to contain the dust cloud.
“With a little bit of wind, and that little bit of rain that we had, it knocked that down real quickly, which was a great benefit to all of us, because it put it down on the ground real quickly,” said Zahn.
There was one reported injury, after a spectator said a reinforcing bar that fell from the debris gashed his leg. He was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and his condition is unknown.
The steel from the structure with be recycled and the concrete will be crushed and reused for the new development.

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