There are no good accessible viewing areas for this weekend’s scheduled implosion of the Houston Main Building at 1100 Holcombe, the folks at M.D. Anderson insist. (That space they’re squeezing media reps into to watch the big bang? Too small.) But why get up so early on a Sunday morning just to catch a few lungfuls of white powder anyway? Instead, you can watch the festive destruction of the iconic former Prudential Building live on the web from this link. The dynamite is scheduled to go off January 8th at 7:52 am (unless, of course, one of those Life Flight helicopters is coming in). And there’ll be higher-res video available later.
- Previously on Swamplot: M.D. Anderson: Prudential Building Demo Site Will Sit Vacant for Years, Med Center Prudential Tower Skeleton Will Survive Through End of Year, M.D. Anderson Tower Will Go Out with a Bang, Kill It in One Big Boom, Or Piece by Piece?, M.D. Anderson’s Quiet Preservation Effort: Peter Hurd’s Prudential Mural Has Left the Building, Sure Looks Like Demolition This Time: M.D. Anderson Begins Taking Down the Prudential Tower, Will M.D. Anderson’s Contractor Bungle the Largest Fresco Rescue Ever?, The Prudential Tower’s Grand Entrance, Before Its Not-so-Grand Exit, Update: M.D. Anderson Not Demolishing Former Prudential Tower Yet, Just Hacking Away at It a Bit, Report: M.D. Anderson Begins Demolishing Med Center Icon
Photo: Candace Garcia
If you’re an employee of any one of a number of TMC institutions, there’s a good vantage point for you. Also, there are visitor parking garages right across the street. Though I suppose official TMC killjoys will have closed off those.
Here’s some info on the closures.
http://www.mdanderson.org/library/files/hmbimplosionstreetclosure-rev03.pdf
I work in the 24 story building right across Fannin. But the windows are only cleaned once a year and within a week of being cleaned spiders make nests all over them which makes visibility pretty bad.
The webcam will be a much better option.
Although… putting an RV in the holiday inn parking lot and sitting on the roof would work as well as provide cover when the dust cloud comes.
Is there anywhere to watch this from in person? I’d like to go!
My apartment is literally diagonal to this building… I’m thinking about going to my leasing office, but I’m guessing I’ll need a mask… :P
Check out this timelapse video made up of photos I took during the MDACC HMB Implosion on 1/8/12 ….. Enjoy!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150458103767064
and a video (quality is not so great since I was handling two cameras at the same time and the window had a reflective layer on):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09iB7nfyhj8&feature=g-upl&context=G2667f20AUAAAAAAAAAA
Anna