Filene Deconstruction

[mizarchivist]

They've been tearing down the old Filene's building for a while, but the structure is actually coming down, pretty much today. Or at least more. I can still taste the wet clay/concrete  from the particles that float around, despite their efforts to wet it down and keep the dust levels within reason.
What's interesting is how fascinating the process is. People stop and stare for minutes on end- myself included. There was one machine that looked like a giant's cable cutter. It was pulling bits off the bulding and parts of the roof- rubber and rebar- were hanging down in sheets. A huge piile of rubble on the top from the ajascent building. The machine would pull at the girders and it reminded me, somewhat sickeningly, of a dentist pulling a tooth. It would yank and more rubble would fall. After a certain point, the whole roof (what was left) shook each time, but I couldn't stay long enough to see it all come down. I was half a block away walking towards Borders when I heard the rumbles and rattles of it finally really coming down. It just kept going on and on. My reaction to watching it all was absolutely fascination, but also a little bit of fear. I still feel the adrenaline. Weird? *shrug*

Comments

[drwex]

nah, not weird. These kinds of demolitions always draw crowds, sometimes even more than the cool, planned, quick dynamitings.

[ceo]

When my employer moved into their current space, productivity was somewhat impacted by the ongoing demolition of the building next door, particularly when a backhoe with a grabber claw had a big I-beam in its claw and was smashing down brick walls with it.

Later that summer they brought in the pile driver, which , er, impacted productivity even more.