Local
Chamblee’s 45-year-old Century Boulevard tower brought down by controlled blast
An 18-story office building on Century Boulevard collapsed in seconds during a planned implosion Saturday. A proposed $91 million conversion to 289 apartments had been abandoned, leaving the owner without a new use for the aging tower.
A vacant 18-story office tower on Century Boulevard in Chamblee was demolished by a controlled implosion Saturday, Oct. 24, bringing down a building that had stood for 45 years.
The glass-clad structure, more than 200 feet tall, folded inward after demolition crews detonated strategically placed charges. The tower’s triangular shape added complexity to the engineering, with the plan designed to bring the building down on itself in roughly two to three seconds.
“It takes extensive engineering to place explosive charges strategically and time the detonations,” said Dave Savignano, owner of Cartersville-based Atlas Demolition. “And within two seconds, the building should be safely on the ground.”
Highwoods Properties, which owns the building, had no new use for it after a proposed $91 million project to convert the tower into 289 apartments was deemed unfeasible and abandoned.
Built in 1981, the building housed the U.S. Department of Revenue until 2024. Its demolition marks the end of a longtime fixture on the metro Atlanta skyline.