"It was a good feeling:" Downtown Milwaukee's transit center clock tower comes crumbling down

MILWAUKEE -- It all came crashing down! The clock tower on the downtown Milwaukee Transit Center was demolished Saturday morning, January 7th -- to make way for a new, bigger and better building along the city's skyline.

The heavy equipment is in, and it was just a matter of time before the downtown Transit Center's clock would no longer be part of Milwaukee's skyline.

"I was pretty excited," said Dan Weiss, Findorff Project Manager, Dan Weiss.

Dan Weiss

Crews were eager to take the structure down.

"We've been planning this job since September of last year," Weiss said.

Strategically mapping out the plans, Saturday morning it was all executed.

"The most critical part was kind of picking at the clock tower before we tipped it over. We tried to pick away as much of the precast concrete that was sitting on the clock tower beforehand to reduce the amount of vibration that would happen when the actual clock tower tipped over," said Weiss.

clock tower demolition

Each of the six columns were torch cut, weakening the structure so it could be toppled over.

clock tower demolition

"Had a piece of equipment on the north side of the building, kind of holding up as a lever. Once all the columns were cut, they tipped it over and everything went well and as planned," said Weiss.

Then it all came crumbling down.

clock tower demolition

"It was a good feeling to see everything go smooth and safe," said Weiss.

Making way along the lakefront.

Couture project proposed for Milwaukee's lakefront

Couture project proposed for Milwaukee's lakefront

"What's going to replace it is what will be, I guarantee, an icon for this city," said Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele.

Plans for The Couture building can now come to fruition. Soon, a 44-story skyscraper, featuring about 300 apartments along with retail, a restaurant and parking space, will occupy the space. And keep up with the times by providing about 2,000 jobs and generate $68 million in property tax money.

Next, the bridge over Michigan Street will come down as well. The entire demolition site should be clear in the next few months -- setting up for The Couture groundbreaking in spring.

clock tower demolition