The implosion of the Fort Hill Square parking garage in Boston, Sunday January 20th 1985.

The Fort Hill Square parking garage at the corner of Purchase and Oliver Street in the Financial District, seen from Atlantic Avenue. The garage was built in 1959 and demolished on Sunday January 20th 1985, the day Superbowl 19 was held. Eight more pictures are shown below…

Photographs of Boston.

The Fort Hill Square parking garage at the corner of Purchase and Oliver Street in the Financial District minutes before it was demolished on January 20th 1985.

The Fort Hill Square parking garage minutes before it was demolished.

The implosion of the Fort Hill Square parking garage in Boston, January 20th 1985.

This is the first photo I took, you don’t see much going on yet though naturally I took the photo because I heard the first explosion; it was a bit of a Pavlov’s dog experience.

The implosion of the Fort Hill Square parking garage in Boston, January 20th 1985.

In the second photo I took things are just starting to happen, the “Boston is booming” and Superbowl XIX banners are beginning to be ripped up, etc…

The implosion of the Fort Hill Square parking garage in Boston, January 20th 1985.

In the third implosion photo, the clouds of dust and rubble are becoming very rock ’n’ roll

The implosion of the Fort Hill Square parking garage in Boston, January 20th 1985.

This is the fourth photo I took of the garage demolition carried out by Hercules Wrecking, based in Brockton.

The implosion of the Fort Hill Square parking garage in Boston, January 20th 1985.

In the fifth photo the building has completely fallen to the ground, entirely hidden by nasty clouds of dust, rubble and debris.

The implosion of the Fort Hill Square parking garage in Boston, January 20th 1985.

I have no idea why people ran closer to the expressway as the clouds rose, all I wanted to do was run away after I’d taken enough pictures.

The implosion of the Fort Hill Square parking garage in Boston, January 20th 1985.

Before the 1980s asbestos was commonly used as insulation in buildings. I had a vague idea that the cloud of dust could be dangerous though that notion came clearly in to focus in the wake of the Twin Tower attacks in Manhattan on September 11th 2001.