The former St. George’s hotel, which stood derelict for two decades, finally thundered to the ground at 10.20 a.m. today.

A huge blast signaled the Island’s first implosion and it took less than 15 seconds for the 28,000 tons of concrete to collapse in a massive pile of dust.

Hundreds of people came out to watch, film and photograph the historic event including on-lookers on scores of boats and jet-skis in the Narrows Channel.

Premier Ewart Brown and Works and Engineering Minister Derrick Burgess, who once worked at the hotel as a bartender, each pressed a button at Fort St. Catherine to start the implosion carried out by Demolition Dynamics, a subsidiary of US firm DH Griffin Wrecking Co.

Looked good, congrats to the team!