14 News, The Tri-State's News and Weather Leader-A closer look at the Big E implosion

A closer look at the Big E implosion

By Ben Garbarek - bio | email | Twitter
Posted by Noah Stubbs - email

OWENSBORO, KY (WFIE) - The Executive Inn Rivermont is now a pile of rubble and only a memory to folks in Owensboro.

If you missed Sunday's implosion or just can't get enough of the big blast, we are bringing you an exclusive look at the moments before and after the implosion.

A steady stream of onlookers continue to stop by what's left of the Executive Inn Rivermont.

On the day of the implosion, 14 News was the only news station allowed inside the blast zone before and after the implosion.

It took only four seconds to bring down the Executive Inn.

But let's rewind, It took much more to make it all happen.

14 News had exclusive access to the Big E before the blast.

"Getting prepared for this implosion has been quite a task as far as once we got into the structural design of the building we realized it was not designed the way engineers had thought," AED representative Lisa Kelly said.

Crews gutted the first floor of the Big E for two weeks before the implosion and anything not holding up the tower was cleared away before the implosion.

The demolition crews sliced most of the way through each support beam and then wrapped boxes of explosives around each.

"The building is definitely in a very, very dangerous state at this point," Kelley said. "It's ready to come down with a little bit of explosives today we should be able to slice right through those beams and drop her."

This pink wire carried the charge to set off the explosives.

Owensboro Mayor Ron Payne was given the honor of setting off the blast, pushing two buttons to detonate the explosives on the first floor of the hotel.

The two sets of explosions caused the building to fall down into itself.

Blasters said afterward, the implosion was a complete success.

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

"Nobody got hurt," Kelley said. "We did bring down a little bit extra of the convention center which was a plus and saves a little bit of work too."

Seven stories of the Big E tower were reduced to about 30 feet of debris.

After the blast, the central elevator shaft stood out above the rubble.

Demolition crews say the elevator was too unstable to prepare for the blast but after the implosion it's low enough to haul off with the rest of the debris.

"We had a little obstacle of getting to some of the floors because we weren't sure if it was structurally sound for us to go up there," Kelley said. "The elevator shaft has shot. It was a success. It was completely where it's supposed to be."

Clearing the rest of the Executive Inn site will be much easier for demolition crews.

"A whole lot quicker to get to a pile like this," Kelley said. "This would have taken us a month, month and a half to get to this point and they did it in a matter of four seconds."

The end of an Owensboro icon brought to the ground while thousands of people watched

The city of Owensboro is planning a tribute to the Executive Inn inside the proposed downtown convention center.

The city says between two and three thousand people watched the Big E's dramatic goodbye. 

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