People gather to watch as Atlanta Demolition, hired by the Atlanta Housing Authority, prepare to implode the Martin Luther King Tower in downtown Atlanta, Sunday. - AJC

Columns on the tower were wrapped after the explosive charges were placed. The 154-unit Atlanta Housing Authority building was built 1968 and had been classified as obsolete.- AJC

From left, Jim Redyke, president of Dykon Explosive Demolition Group, helps Ethel Parks, 75, to press the button that will detonate the implosion of the Martin Luther King Tower. Parks lives in a little blue house directly across the street from the tower so they let her do the implosion. Her home is still in perfect condition according to a worker on scene.- AJC

Smoke from the explosive charges signals the start of the implosion process.- AJC

With the columns blown out, the building starts coming down...- AJC

...until it's replaced by a cloud of dust. - AJC

Kathy Allgood, of Fayetteville, whose husband helped put explosives into the building, and behind her, Jeremy Stilton and his family, react after the implosion.- AJC

Residents of nearby apartments had front-row seats to the implosion. - AJC

An Atlanta Demolition worker walks through the debris afterwards. The implosion of the building cost $1.57 million, Housing Authority officials said. - AJC

Atlanta Demolition employee Aaron Fleming sweeps up debris blown into McDaniel Street following the implosion. - AJC