No Mercy for the Medical Center Garage

There isn't often much commotion downtown at 7:30 a.m. on a Sunday. But last Sunday, I heard what sounded like a bomb going off in the city. It was definitely louder and longer than the cannons shot in the harbor.

It turns out that we were not being invaded, and the unabomber was not to blame for this disturbance. Mercy Hospital had scheduled a demolition (implosion) of their parking garage facility. The dynamite explosions lasted 16 seconds, and then the building dramatically sunk to the ground.

These pictures from the Baltimore Sun website chronicle the implosion at the beginning, end, and aftermath. For video footage (highly recommended to for the full audio-visual experience) see http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.demolition08oct08,0,1711035.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout.

I also very highly recommend reading Stephen Kiehl's Sun article "Garage takes fall for progress," which appeared in the October 6, 2007 issue (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.ci.demolition06oct06,0,3605884.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout). Not only is the story behind the demolition and the man who makes such things possible fascinating, but the writing is engaging as well.

I can't believe how loud the explosions were. It would have been awesome to witness.