Cather and Pound halls, housing complexes at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, were imploded Friday morning.
The residence halls were built in 1963 and was it was the first high-rise dorm to be built. University officials said the reason for the implosion was from a study in 2010 indicating the high cost of renovating the current buildings.
The implosion only lasted seconds and thanks to the mostly clear skies, everything went off without a hitch.
"A sense of relief, yes its over we've done so much planning and it was able to come off this morning as planned so that's all good news," said UNL Director of Housing Sue Gildersleeve.
Dozens of spectators watched on top of a nearby parking garage including Kim Romohr who was a resident of Cather from 1970-75.
"I was sad to see it go it was bittersweet," said Romohr.
Romohr said Cather was his family away from home, "You find your own community, there's a place for everyone 13th floor Cather was that place for me."
For the Romohr family these two dorms are a family tradition as his daughter Jennifer Wrenholt lived in Pound Hall for a year, "Our dad, and our uncle and our aunt had all lived there so it was our hope that we could get into those dorms and we did at least for a year to continue on the tradition."
No delays were anticipated, but a back-up date of Dec. 23 had been set just in case.
The implosion cost roughly $7 million. Inspectors said they didn't see any damage on surrounding buildings except for a cracked window.
The University hasn't said what will take the dorms' place but for now it will be greenspace.
