A little boy’s dreams came true Saturday morning as crews imploded a landmark metro Atlanta building.
The old Executive Park Hotel came down to make room for Children’s Health Care of Atlanta’s administrative campus. The 19-story building is located in DeKalb County.
D.J. Pitts, 4, a patient at the hospital, will push the button to implode the building while wearing his superhero cape.
Saturday morning, several superheros joined D.J. as he prepared for his big moment.
Six months ago, Pitts accidentally ingested engine cleaner that ate through his esophagus and stomach. He spent weeks undergoing surgeries at CHOA. While there, he felt better wearing a superhero cape, and it wasn’t long before he was inspiring others.
When it came time to demolish the building, the staff at CHOA came up with the idea of “Cape Day.”
“He's very excited. Like when we pulled up to the site and showed him the building he just started smiling from ear to ear,” said his mother, Natoya Ruff.
“He's using his superpower strength,” said Steve Lange with CHOA. “He's going to help us blast down the building. He's going to push the plunger that signals the demo of the building.”
Crews placed dozens of charges on six different floors to make the old hotel first come straight down, then topple just a bit toward I-85 to cut down on the dust and debris field.
Crews say the implosion went off as planned.
