A 95-year-old landmark in downtown Pittsburgh was transformed into a pile of rubble this weekend by a series of explosions. Unlike 1995's bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, this destruction was intentional, and carefully planned so as not to harm anyone.

The 26-story building at 500 Wood Street had been the home of a large sports mural for several years. The mural's artist, Judy Penzer, was among the victims of the crash of TWA Flight 800 last summer.

Despite a drenching rain, hundreds of people gathered as close to the implosion as police would allow. The detonation of the building was delayed by nearly 30 minutes while crews waited for the sky to clear. Finally, the 15-seconds everyone waited for arrived. With a noise "louder than we expected," the building came crashing to Earth. The smoke cloud that followed the blast prompted many onlookers to take quick cover in nearby stores.

Members of the nearby First Presbyterian Church had held a prayer vigil early in the morning in hopes that their valuable stained glass windows would not be harmed by the blast. After several precautions were taken, it seems that the group's prayers were answered. Other nearby buildings were not as lucky. Windows at several shops, including Rite-Aid and Philly Original Cheesesteak Shop, were destroyed by the blast.

Now comes the fun part. It may have only taken seconds to bring the building down, but officials expect clean-up efforts to last for the next eight weeks. A new Lazarus department store is expected to be open on the lot in 1998.

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