Leaning Tower of Dallas
Leaning Tower of Dallas in 2020
General information
Type	Office
Architectural style	Modernist
Address	2828 North Haskell Avenue
Town or city	Dallas, Texas
Country	United States
Coordinates	32°48′26.5″N 96°47′32.7″W / 32.807361°N 96.792417°W / 32.807361; -96.792417
Completed	1971
Demolished	March 2020
Height	47.9 metres (157 ft)
Technical details
Structural system	Reinforced concrete
Floor count	11
Design and construction
Structural engineer	Datum Engineering

The Leaning Tower of Dallas was the core of an 11-story building in Dallas, Texas that unexpectedly remained standing and slightly leaning after the demolition of the building it was part of. On February 16, 2020, Lloyd D. Nabors Demolition company dynamited the building to make way for a $2.5 billion mixed-use project. The core remained standing until it was demolished via wrecking ball on March 3.

The building quickly became an internet meme and a social media hotspot for selfies. People traveled to Dallas from across Texas to take photos with the core akin to tourist photos taken with the Leaning Tower of Pisa.^[1]

Background

The building was built in 1971 and was the Southland Corporation Office Tower. It later became the Affiliated Computer Services building until Xerox acquired them and then Xerox took ownership of it. The building was later acquired by De La Vega Development. It was a concrete office building located at 2828 North Haskell Avenue. It stood 11 stories tall and was 47.9m / 157 ft tall.^[2] Thomas Tyler, the principal design engineer, explained that the core did not collapse with the rest of the building because "[it had] a cast-in-place concrete core, we call it a slip-form concrete core. And that became the stabilizing element for the building. So it's sort of like the tree trunk of a tree. I mean, what came off is all the branches and the leaves. But the tree trunk is a little harder to bring down than the branches."^[3]

Demolition

On February 16, 2020, Lloyd D. Nabors Demolition used 300 pounds of dynamite to demolish the building to make room for a $2.5 billion mixed-use project by De La Vega Development for that property.^[4] The entire building collapsed except the core which housed the elevator shaft and stairwell. The core collapsed slightly at its base before settling with a slight lean. According to Artemio De La Vega, CEO of De La Vega Development, "The core settled into the basement probably, approximately...I'd say 35 to 40 feet down into the basement, which is basically what is holding the tower."^[5]

After the demolition, Dallas-based Lloyd D. Nabors Demolition, said they had a multistep plan to bring down the rest of the building. Demolition crews planned to use a combination of a wrecking ball to destroy the upper portion of the core and a high-reach excavator to knock down the rest of it.^[6] On February 24, the second phase of demolition began. When the wrecking ball hit the building it appeared to do no damage at all. The wrecking ball was about 3.5 feet tall and weighed 5,600 pounds, giving it a tiny appearance in photos and videos as it swung into the building. Local journalists, observers and admirers made fun of the slow-moving process on social media.^[7] After two weeks of demolition on March 3, the core collapsed and demolition of the building was complete.^[8]

Social media reaction

A man posing with the Leaning Tower of Dallas

Its height and location by downtown Dallas made it very visible to people living in the area and to commuters. People quickly noticed the awkward structure and started taking photos with it and posting them on social media. Inspired by Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa, many people posted photos of themselves pretending to hold up the tilted tower.^[9] Numerous memes were created and posted on various social media outlets about the tower, including on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Many memes made light of the tower's refusal to fall despite the demolition attempts.^[10]

References