Implosion destroys old Sears building

In a little more than seven seconds, 74 years of Philadelphia history crumbled to the ground. The enormous nine-story Sears, Roebuck and Co. building with its famous clock tower was imploded on schedule at 9 a.m. yesterday as tens of thousands of spectators watched with cameras and video recorders in hand. The implosion was three times larger than any other demolition of its kind in history, said Ed Lizak, chief engineer for the head demolition company, Mercer Wrecking Recycling Corp. "It was tremendous," said Dolores Hodgson of Brownmills, N.J. "I thought it would be even bigger. That was very thrilling." The onlookers gasped as the building fell with a deafening crash and then clapped when they saw only a pile of rubble and a huge cloud of dust was left behind. People ran after the wreckage settled to the ground to avoid the wind blown dust, only to find some of their cars covered with a layer of grime. Lizak said it took three months for 300 to 350 workers from Mercer to lay 25 miles of wire and set 12,000 pounds of dynamite to destroy the 25 million cubic foot building. Lizak compared the implosion to "the largest fireworks display you've ever seen," except it took place "in 7.5 seconds compared to 45 minutes." He said he was excited to see the first stage of the project come to a successful conclusion. "Get it down and get it over with," Lizak said. "Let's find another one." He added that it would take another three months for the debris to be hauled away and recycled. Built in the 1920s, the structure was considered by many to be the gateway to Northeast Philadelphia and a longtime source of employment for local residents. Luther Schlauch, who worked at the Sears building for more than 43 years, expressed disappointment over the building's destruction. "At first it didn't bother me," said Schlauch, who lives a few blocks from the blast site. "The last week it started to get to me. It's just memories." He said a great deal has changed since he began working for Sears in the export department. "I can remember when I first started and they had the cafeteria segregated," he added. "Women were on one side, men on the other." He said he collected two bricks from the building as a memento for his years spent at the complex. But not everyone thought the occasion was a sad one. Melissa Mills of Croydon, Pa. and Lisa Blanchard of Palmyra, N.J. dressed as a detonator and a replica of the clock tower with the hands set to 9 o'clock. "I couldn't think of a Halloween costume," Blanchard said. Surprisingly, spectators said they were not nervous about their proximity to the imploding building. "If I could go closer, I'd go closer," said Richard Weiss of Plainview, N.Y. "This is fantastic."

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