(alternate view)
Four downtown Dallas, Texas buildings were demolished Saturday to make way for a new church complex. Manhattan Construction is building the First Baptist Church in downtown Dallas. In order to make room for the project, they had to implode and remove an entire city block. This is the video from that implosion. Thank you, Manhattan, for providing such a great vantage point to view this very rare event.

An estimated 150 pounds of dynamite brought the four buildings owned by First Baptist Dallas to the ground.

It took approximately 15 seconds from when the button was pushed to when the last visible part of the last building disappeared into the cloud of dust.

Residents in the surrounding area were asked to stay indoors for several hours after the implosion because of lingering dust.

Demolition crews are now working to remove the massive pile of debris.

The church's $115 million makeover will include a 3,000-seat worship center, a sky bridge and hundreds of additional parking spaces.

Construction of the new church will begin in January.

The church is aiming to complete the project in time for Easter Sunday in 2013.By NBC News
Monday, November 1, 2010 - 4:37pm