KANSAS CITY - In a matter of moments, a 10-story building that had stood for 114 years in the West Bottoms district of Kansas City was brought down in a controlled implosion.
The demolition happened right at 7am Sunday morning. A series of sharp explosions went off inside the structure, and then a series of larger explosions brought the building down onto itself.
A cloud of dust rose and drifted across the West Bottoms, leaving a granular coating on cars, streets and buildings.
The building was constructed in 1910 - the Ridenour-Baker Grocery Company building - the first wholesale grocery building west of the Mississippi along a rail line.
In the 1970s, the Weld Wheel company took ownership of the building. By the early 2000s, they were gone and the structure had remained vacant ever since.
The building left exposed to the weather, its windows broken out, a collapsed roof with trees growing on it. Urban explorers would take advantage, some people caused damage inside i.e. the windows, some would hold impromptu parties, while artists would use the expansive walls to create graffiti and other pieces of art.
There were plans a decade ago to renovate and turn it into loft apartments. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. The idea fizzled. Now, the site is part of a large 20-acre redevelopment project.
SomeraRoad, a real estate investment firm, expects to break ground this summer on a $500 million multi-year, mixed-use development. It's knocked down a couple of buildings, including now the Ridenour-Baker, will build new, and rehab and renovate several other century old buildings.