Dallas' ‘Leaning Tower' Could Take ‘Several Days, or Weeks' to Come Down
It captured national headlines, and hearts, but this unlikely Dallas landmark will soon be history
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NBCUniversal, Inc.
Melissa, Kristin and David as well as Soraya were featured during the Leaning Tower of Dallas segment on Feb. 25, 2020.
We are officially in the final days for the "Leaning Tower of Dallas." However, there may be more final days than initially anticipated.
A demolition team will work throughout the week to bring the remainder of the building down until it is short enough to bring in a "high-reach excavator," according to De La Vega Development.
The developers added that demolition could even take weeks -- after the first estimate was two to three days. The demolition was further delayed Wednesday due to high winds.
After the building failed to fully implode, a crane and wrecking ball were brought in Monday to knock down the remainder of the former Affiliated Computer Services building in the 2800 block of North Haskell Avenue.
The wrecking ball began to chip away at the building at about 10 a.m., but many watching were nonplussed by both the size of the ball and the lack of damage done; each blow seemed to dislodge only dust instead of bricks, proving that knocking a building down with a small 5,600-pound ball can be a tedious process.
Satterwhite added that the size of the wrecking ball was dictated by a number of factors outlined in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's code for mechanical demolition, specifically with regard to the size of the crane, the boom and strength of the line holding the wrecking ball.
We are officially in the final days for the “Leaning Tower of Dallas.”
'Leaning Tower' a Social Media Sensation
Hundreds of people gathered over the weekend at a makeshift park to snap selfies and poses with the unlikely landmark in its final hours before demolition.
"When I said I was going to be doing this I didn’t think I'd be doing it for hours," said Dallas resident Sammy Samuelson.
"Start to finish, watched them get after it with a jackhammer -- didn’t work. Now they got this tiny ball out here. C'mon, get a bigger ball," said Brooks Ruhman who lives nearby.
Hundreds gathered at a makeshift park to snap selfies and poses with the unlikely landmark in its final hours before demolition.
The building was supposed to have been imploded completely Feb. 16 to make way for a The Central, a new 27-acre mixed-use project by De La Vega Development.
James Ford said the photos made his day.
“This came along and it gave me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a shot,” Ford said.
Taylor Slovak
Taylor Slovak, Parker Newman age 4
Taylor Slovak
Taylor Slovak, Parker Newman age 4
Taylor Slovak
Taylor Slovak
Taylor Slovak
Parker Newman age 4
Taylor Slovak
Parker Newman age 4
Parker Newman age 4
Nancy Infante
Leaning Tower of Dallas
Larry Green
Safe way to bring down leaning tower of Dallas
Crystella McIvor
Had So Much Fun With The Family & Seeing So Many Peeps Enjoying The Unique & Memorable Moment In Dallas History. #buildingrefusestofall #dallasstrong #famous #infamous
Crystella McIvor
Had So Much Fun With The Family & Seeing So Many Peeps Enjoying The Unique & Memorable Moment In Dallas History. #buildingrefusestofall #dallasstrong #famous #infamous
Crystella McIvor
Had So Much Fun With The Family & Seeing So Many Peeps Enjoying The Unique & Memorable Moment In Dallas History. #buildingrefusestofall #dallasstrong #famous #infamous
Crystella McIvor
Had So Much Fun With The Family & Seeing So Many Peeps Enjoying The Unique & Memorable Moment In Dallas History. #buildingrefusestofall #dallasstrong #famous #infamous
Crystella McIvor
Had So Much Fun With The Family & Seeing So Many Peeps Enjoying The Unique & Memorable Moment In Dallas History. #buildingrefusestofall #dallasstrong #famous #infamous
Crystella McIvor
Had So Much Fun With The Family & Seeing So Many Peeps Enjoying The Unique & Memorable Moment In Dallas History. #buildingrefusestofall #dallasstrong #famous #infamous
Crystella McIvor
Had So Much Fun With The Family & Seeing So Many Peeps Enjoying The Unique & Memorable Moment In Dallas History. #buildingrefusestofall #dallasstrong #famous #infamous
Daniel Murie
Man painting leaning tower of Dallas
Miss Diaz
Kristin Diaz and David Rancken at the Leaning Tower of Dallas.
Greg Austin
If I could just take it down!
Laura Pacheco
We were trying to have it appear as if Trudy’s nose is touching the building, but very difficult with dogs to do this. They are collies, so they have the long noses, which we thought would be funny in theory. Much harder to accomplish!
Follow trudyandtobythecollies on Instagram.
Laura Pacheco
We were trying to have it appear as if Toby’s nose is touching the building, but very difficult with dogs to do this. They are collies, so they have the long noses, which we thought would be funny in theory. Much harder to accomplish!
Follow trudyandtobythecollies on Instagram.
Leigh Ann Adam
Leigh Ann And Jeremy from star 102.1 “Leaning Tower of Pizza”.
Deborah Moon
My daughter, Melissa Marcelloni doing her part.
Deborah Moon
My daughter, Melissa Marcelloni doing her part. The other people are too. At a different angle. Thought you would like both.
Meredith
I came in like a wrecking ball. 😉
sherry sutphen
Leaning Tower of Dallas
Soraya Colli
Leaning Tower of Dallas!
Soraya Colli
Leaning Tower of Dallas!
Dianne Wordlaw
In the rain trying to sit this building up straight well it’s our leaning toward in Dallas
David Stapleton
My photo from leaning tower Dallas.
Maria M.
Maria trying to hold it up.
Maria M.
My son Danny trying to hold it up.
Luis V
Leaning Tower of Dallas pic
Luis V
Leaning Tower of Dallas pic
Jason & Jenn Baskett
Halley, age 7, was excited to get a chance to see Dallas’ own Leaning Tower after hearing about the implosion gone wrong on the radio and the news. Who needs a trip to Italy when you can take a family day in the big city?!?
JD Clayton
Friday night has brought out many people to see the tower as crowds of people are seen taking photos at sunset
@SandyKulkarnee via Twitter
Finally made it to this iconic #leaningtowerofdallas, man-made #wonder in #Dallas captured in my hands before this #landmark vanishes!
Andrew Lloret
Leaning tower pic
Amber Albanese
Leaning tower of Dallas
Amber Albanese
Leaning tower of Dallas
@duran037 via Twitter
#leaningtowerofdallas Antonio visiting Dallas’s own leaning tower!!
@erinbiry on Twitter
Limited Time Only!
#leaningtowerofdallas
@600camp on Twitter
David Coale @600camp
9h
#leaningtowerofdallas #appellatetwitter #appellateplaces
Will Maddox via Twitter
Big things happen here! #tourism #leaningtowerofdallas
Benjamin Bratcher via Sandra Velázquez
Whenever a new landmark is established right next to your home, you have to take a picture with it! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Leaning Tower of Dallas! #LeaningTowerOfDallas #DallasLandmark
@leonvansam via Instagram
Visited the Leaning Tower of Dallas yesterday! #puppylove #leaningtowerofdallas
@KdSuddock via Twitter
@NBCDFW my BF took this photo of me and the #leaningtowerofdallas shortly after the implosion #fail
Sally McMullin
This morning on my way to physical therapy I decided to go capture a good pic of this building. Well someone from @nbcdfw was there & captured this.
Kelley Breeding
Fawaz S. Anwar
Only in Dallas #leaningtowerofdallas
Russ Hearn
@vjuko checking out the newest tourist attraction here – The #leaningtowerofdallas
Kristina L. Humenesky
Choctaw Casino & Resort made a fun parody on the leaning tower of Dallas tonight.
There were dogs, babies, couples, kids and Rick Herrick, who just celebrated his 77th birthday and said the tower is fun for all ages.
“It’s just not often you see a leaning tower in Dallas," he said. "We have our own leaning tower here. This is a once-in-a-lifetime sight."
Gary Boersma visited Dallas — and the tilting tower — with his wife and friends.
Hundreds gathered Sunday at a makeshift park to snap selfies and poses with the unlikely landmark in its final hours before demolition.
They’re
in town from Las Vegas, and it was their first stop.
“It’s pretty impressive. Being from Vegas, we get a lot of implosions there, but we’ve never seen one come halfway down,” he said.
The president and CEO of De La Vega Development, which is building The Central, encouraged people to send photos, paintings, sketches and more to The Central's Instagram account. Some will be selected to appear in a future gallery space at the development.
The full statement from Artemio De La Vega is below.
"We are delighted to see Dallasites capturing the Leaning Tower of Dallas, the future site of The Central, through a diverse range of mediums and we want to celebrate these artistic expressions. Share your artwork of “The Leaning Tower of Dallas” — be it paintings, sketches, photography, or even a LEGO sculpture — by tagging The Central's Instagram, @DiscoverTheCentral, and the official hashtag, #LeaningTowerofDallas, for a chance to see your work in one of The Central's future gallery spaces."
NBC 5's Meredith Yeomans, Yona Gavino, Chris Blake, Brian Roth, Eline de Bruijn, Claire Cardona and Frank Heinz contributed to this report.
