Tall & Urban News

The core of an 11-story Dallas office building was left standing after a planned implosion, creating what locals have dubbed the “Leaning Tower of Dallas.”

The demolition of the tower near downtown Dallas didn’t go quite as planned. As the former Affiliated Computer Services Building was imploded with explosives on Sunday morning, 16 February 2020, the core of the tower stubbornly remained standing, leaning to one side.

Video of the building’s collapse immediately went viral and many, inspired by Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa, posted photos showing themselves pretending to prop up the lopsided tower.

An online petition even popped up to "save this landmark from destruction," noting, "if anything, do it for the memes." One Twitter user quipped, "Oops, an implosion masterpiece!!"

Lloyd Nabors, whose company is handling the demolition, said crews will use a wrecking ball to take down the remaining tower, which included the elevator shafts.

Steve Pettigrew, president of the company that created the blast plan and handled the explosives, said all of the explosives did go off. "That type of construction with the central core and the outer columns—they're tough, obviously," he said.

Nabors said the tower is leaning in the direction it was intended to fall, and there aren't any safety concerns.

The building is being demolished to make way for a $2.5 billion mixed-use project.

For more on this story go to The New York Times and Tulsa World.