14 News, The Tri-State's News and Weather Leader-Owensboro residents bid farewell to Big E

Owensboro residents bid farewell to Big E

By Ben Garbarek - bio | email | Twitter
Posted by Sarah Harlan - email

OWENSBORO, KY (WFIE) - Owensboro's Executive Inn came crashing to the ground Sunday morning in front of a crowd of thousands, and only 14 News was given exclusive access inside the Big E before and after the implosion.

14 News had eight cameras, a helicopter and a team of reporters on scene Sunday morning.

The Executive Inn stood for 32 years, and in four seconds, came crashing to the ground.

Demolition crews spent the last two weeks gutting the bottom floor of the hotel, getting ready for implosion.

The blasters were all smiles after the iconic hotel came down.

"Things went awesome," project manager Steve Murray said. "When you start hearing the bangs go off and you see the building rumbling and then you see the failure like you did, it's great."

"It was perfect conditions," Lisa Kelly with Advanced Explosives Demolition said. "Obviously it would have been nice if the elevator tower would come down but for the most part the rest of this is exactly what we were hoping for."

The elevator shaft inside the hotel stood standing after the blast, but demolition crews said that was expected.

After the main tower of the hotel came crashing down, the Executive Inn sign from the front fell neatly to the ground.

Demolition crews said it was just a coincidence.

"It was the first thing I said when I walked up," Kelly said. "I said 'it looks like a stage that says Executive Inn.' It's awesome. I'm sure people taking pictures right now are absolutely loving the fact that's still in one piece."

"The sign's still rolling," Murray said.  "As you can see, it still looks good. That's kind of like a tribute to this town, how tough this building was and what it brought to this town."

The demolition of the rest of the Executive Inn should be a piece of cake.

"It's a whole lot quicker to get to a pile like this," Brett Rape with Denney Excavating said. "This would have taken us a month, month and a half to get to this point, and they just did it in a matter of four seconds."

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