The building that housed Tony's Place/Lonesome Dove was built in 1918, but prior to that, there was also a building there. Which also housed a restaurant. Roughly 120 years of restaurant history fell tonight. (I might be quoted as saying 140, I was in error, thinking of a different building.)
Even at that rate, the bricks witnessed more history than most realize. And in a matter of hours (and yes, contrary to Jeremy Crider's SLS report - it was not 14 minutes, thats just how long he was there) it was no more.
There were a few moments of trepidation, when the building seemed to twist in the wind. A time when it seemed as if the entire front of the building would fall straight down, before the machines even moved in.
First to go was the chicken coop. The rear machine moved into position, then appeared dormant. Then suddenly, it sprang to life, wrenching the coop off the building and tossing it to the ground. It dug further in, hollowing out the building, the machine in the front carefully lining itself up the entire time.
Out front, surgical precision - in the back, brutal force.
The windows, which I thought initially would go at any moment, held till the last. Even under the one-foot flex the building shuddered through, the windows held. The last blow was the endgame. And everything fell.
As the machines moved in, and full demolition began - lightening flared up in the skies beyond.
Several times prior - a single pidgeon flew to perch on a newly exposed beam, or board on the building. And moments before the final blow, a single pidgeon flew into the crawlspace between the ceiling and the roof. And then the building was gone, leaving only a massive cloud of dust in its wake.
And a flight of pidgeons in the sky.
Check out Roanoke Photos for more photos of last nights demo of the Lonesome Dove.
1 comment:
Nicely written, you should freelance to some local newspaper. Hard to see a old building go down, but atleast it's progress towards the future. Great picture also.
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