Out with a bang: Georgia Dome comes down in Atlanta

ATLANTA — It took only 12 seconds for an Atlanta icon to be demolished, but it will now take months to clean up the rubble of what remains of the Georgia Dome.

The Georgia Dome came down at 7:31 a.m. Monday with a massive boom.

Channel 2 Action News had exclusive angles of the demolition during a special edition of Channel 2 Action News This Morning.

It took nearly 5,000 pounds of dynamite to bring down the 25-year-old sports arena. There was no reported damage to Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Georgia World Congress Center.

A thick cloud of smoke and debris particles wafted over parts of Atlanta after the demolition but soon began to dissipate.

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"It was a lot bigger explosion than I thought it would be, but it seems as if they missed a spot," one looker told Channel 2's Dave Huddleston.

There was a section of wall that remained after the demolition, but it can be taken down later by using concrete-breaking equipment.

Engineers said the section is structurally safe and is standing on its own. Most of the material will be recycled, except for the metal, and will be used on site.

The new Mercedes-Benz Stadium stands about 80 feet from the Georgia Dome site.

Dome cleanup could take months

The rubble left by the Georgia Dome has now become a bit of a tourist attraction, as the massive cleanup effort will get underway Tuesday morning.

By every account, engineers told Channel 2's Nicole Carr that the implosion of the Dome was a success.

“Our first priority was the life safety and protecting everyone from bodily injury and that has gone off without a hitch,” construction manager Rick Cuppetilli said.

But a large part of one of the walls still remains, leaving some people asking why.

“It's out of place. Like, the rest of it’s gone, but that one piece is out of place,” onlooker Tyler Ferrar told Carr.

Demolition crews said the large piece that is remaining is nothing out of the ordinary.

“That little piece of concrete there, we do that every day all over the country. It's nothing,” Cuppetilli said.

Demolition crews said there will likely be months of cleanup ahead as they clear the space.

Crews said they will crush the leftover material and put it in the base.

What's next for the Dome site?

Once the cleanup from the Georgia Dome is complete, construction crews will begin a major overhaul of the space, which will add 100,000 more square feet to the Georgia World Congress Center convention area.

The area in which the Georgia Dome sat will become the Home Depot Backyard, a green space.

Frank Poe, executive director of the Georgia World Congress Center, said the center is planning to add a 1,010-room hotel that will fit between Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the Georgia World Congress Center.

"Our goal is to see this hotel under construction in January or February 2019, probably post-Super Bowl," Poe told Channel 2's Craig Lucie in an exclusive interview.

Poe said the plan for the space will attract even more businesses to Atlanta.