A large crowd gathered Sunday to witness the former Art Institute of Dallas building, located at the southeast corner of Park Lane and Central Expressway, implode into a heap of debris.

People started to gather around the building as early as sunrise before Dallas police blocked off all entrances within two miles of the blast sight. The building blew up at exactly 8:00a.m. and fell to the ground in less than a minute. A billowing 10-story cloud of smoke and dust encased the mass of rubble that was the result of the implosion.

“How often do you get to see a building blow up? Not everyday — the last time I saw a building fall was when I was making Lego blocks when I was five,” said bystander J.J. Wampler.

The crowd of over 1,000 people that had surrounded the building from the north, south, east and west sides jumped up and down, cheering for the implosion. Children who had gotten up early to watch with their parents stood in wide-eyed amazement. Parent Reggie Carr brought his 17-month-old boy and 11-year-old girl. “To experience something they will never see again — I had to wake them up early,” he said.

“Instead of using the method to take a crane to take the building down, they used explosives to cut the main beams and let the building fall on itself instead,” said North Park Central building manager Bernard Branin.

Engineers used 100 pounds of dynamite and placed fuses on the first, second, fourth and seventh floors of the 10-story building to initiate the implosion.

The demolition is making way for a multi-use complex with a theater, shops, condos and apartments.

The Harvest Partners Project will be built in two phases. The first phase will include an 80,000 square foot flagship Whole Foods Market that will be situated across from The Richards Group building.

Announcements regarding shops that are to be built will be released as leases are signed.