[FONT=Verdana]The Pacific Trade Center, the community's first skyscraper, will be imploded Sunday to make way for a 16-story condominium tower.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]The sad hulk of a building that began with great fanfare as San Pedro's first skyscraper but ended up an embarrassing reminder of blight and failure for 16 years is finally coming down.[/FONT]
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Depending on wind conditions, at about 6 a.m. Sunday crews from El Monte-based American Wrecking will trigger a series of blasts to implode the old Logicon building at 255 W. Fifth St. It will clear the way for construction of a $175 million, 16-story glass condominium tower called The Vue.
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[FONT=Verdana]Specific plans for the implosion, however, have been sketchy and hard to come by this past week, with some area businesses expressing frustration.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]"What happens if our building has damage?" asked Tom Higgins, an agent for Modern Insurance just one block west of the building. Higgins learned about the implosion only two days ago when a flier was left at his office.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Los Angeles Fire Assistant Chief Lou Roupoli said implosions are delicate operations but are conducted by experts familiar with the process.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]"This is something that takes place regularly with companies that specialize in this," he said.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Developers are discouraging spectators, saying there is no safe place from which to view the implosion of the Pacific Trade Center building. Cleanup afterward will be the responsibility of the demolition company.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Sunday's implosion will be the first in 12 years for the city of Los Angeles. The Vue condominiums that will replace it are slated to be completed in 2008.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Approximately 5 pounds of explosives will be strategically placed within the building. When discharged, the explosives will allow gravity to pull the structure down in a controlled manner.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]The process will take only a few seconds but the sound may reverberate throughout a wide radius -- it is anticipated to be less than 120 decibels, similar to the sound of a gun and not as loud as fireworks.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]People living in San Pedro may "hear a loud boom, followed by the sound of cracking metal, followed by a rumble," warned port Executive Director Geraldine Knatz at this week's harbor commission meeting. "Don't call the police."[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]In the months leading up to the implosion, demolition crews have painstakingly stripped the building, including removal of all its asbestos, so that only its steel frame and concrete utility columns remain.[/FONT]