May 25 2008 07:00 AM
The Seminole Twin Towers dormitory complex at Arkansas State University has been imploded this morning.

The university is destroying the 9-story buildings so it can use the land to expand its facilities at a later date. In the meantime, the land will be left as green space.

The towers, which housed about 700 students, have stood for 40 years but were last in use in the 2005-06 school year. The university is updating its housing so its dorms are more like apartments, which is the trend across the country.

The 7 a.m. blast took 13 seconds, then crews will spend the next couple of months clearing the debris.

The contractor, Chandler Demolition, has been preparing the towers since March. Crews have removed hazardous material, such as asbestos and lead paint. The work also included clearing areas inside for the explosives.

"It meant gutting out four different floors plus a portion of the basement. Those are the blast floors," Chandler president Ricky Chandler said.

The explosives are in the first, third, sixth and eighth floors, plus the basement. Workers drilled 1,100 holes in preparation.