SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Thousands of spectators gathered Saturday to watch the demolition of the city's tallest building - but the Zip Feed Mill tower was stronger than it looked.
The 202-foot-tall concrete structure dropped slightly, leaned a little - and stopped.
The abandoned feed mill elevator in downtown Sioux Falls paled in comparison to structures such as Chicago's 1,450-foot Sears Tower or North Dakota's 242-foot state Capitol in Bismarck, but it was widely considered the tallest building in South Dakota.
That was enough to draw people outside, with temperatures in the teens, to watch the demolition.
Crews had drilled holes into the tower's supporting columns and stuffed them with explosives, intending to drop the tower into a heap of rubble.
However, the tower collapsed into the structure's basement and got wedged, said Eric Schuler, project manager for the Henry Carlson Co., a general contractor. The structure was stable and crews planned to return on Monday to knock it down with a crane, Schuler told KELO-TV.
"It's not an exact science," Schuler said. "We'll get it down safely."
The site's co-owners, Raven Industries Inc. and Howalt-McDowell Insurance Inc., had turned the event into a fundraiser for the Dakota chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and sold $1 raffle tickets for the chance to trigger the blast.
A loan office won the drawing and passed the honor to Jeb Huisman, a 30-year-old finance officer for the nearby town of Garretson who suffers from MS.
The tower was opened in 1956, one of the most modern feed elevators of its time, but ceased operations in 2000.
The Zip tower is being replaced by a $15-million office and retail center.
