A multi-faceted demolition job

Dundee's Alexander Street multis in the Hilltown area have had their comeuppance. As I live just beyond the edge of the exclusion zone, and am quite high up, I could have had some decent video footage, but since my camera phone is one of the earliest models the poor quality recording isn't worth putting up. However, anyone who's interested can have a lookie via the links to some of the more interesting YouTube videos below.

As a near neighbour of the multis and long-time resident of the area I clearly wanted to witness the big event, and there was a fair bit of information available, including a map of the area and exclusion zone on the Courier's website, together with a Tayside Police Facebook page.

Of course, everyone wanted to know when the necessary would actually take place, but the only timings available were that the exclusion zone was supposed to be evacuated by 10am, and that the demolition was scheduled for around lunchtime, but that would depend on everything going to plan - 'elf and safety, innit? Apart from that there were suggestions on the internet that it was provisionally scheduled for 12:30pm, this information apparently via Radio Tay.

Fair enough, but surely there would be some sort of procedure to alert everyone to what was going on? After all, there were thousands of people standing on the Law Hill and at other vantage points both in Dundee and in Fife - the size and location of the multis meant they could be spotted from numerous locations - and after a few hours gawking at the scene attention could start to wander slightly. Blink and you could miss it, almost literally.

Anyway, I could see the whole thing from my window, so assuming there would be some sort of warning I turned my attention to the EastEnders omnibus (don't worry, I've got it taped!). However, a loud siren sounded at around 12:15, which I assume meant the whole thing would soon be over.

However, after a few minutes I got bored holding the camera up, and decided to try searching for information on demolition timings and warnings etc. After only a minute or two I found the necessary relating to Dundee:

There will be a warning prior to the demolition. There will be a siren sounded 15 minutes before. The siren will sound again further into the countdown and a warning shot will be fired when there is about 30 seconds to go. With regard to the time, the evacuation of residents begins at 8am. There are over 600 houses and a nursing home to evacuate which could take a while. It difficult to say exactly how long this will take given the possibility of delays arising in this process. However, late morning is a reasonable bet, i.e. its pretty unlikely to be before 11am.

Fantastic! The timings weren't bang on(!), but the procedure was. The siren I'd heard was the 15 minute warning, thus the big bang would happen at 12:30pm or so. Therefore I started filming after hearing the warning shot (which is why there's so much noise from the gulls on some of the videos closer to the site - the warning shot had alarmed them!) and the explosion came bang on schedule.

Thus as is so often the case the most important information for a lot of people wasn't readily available, or at least I couldn't find it on either the police's Facebook page or in the Courier. I actually found it - yes, you've guessed it - on MoneySavingExpert.com. Don't know why I didn't think of that in the first place! On the other hand, it's clear from the commentary on some of the video footage that many people did know about the procedure, but where precisely they got that information from is unclear.

Contributors to the Facebook page seem to be almost unanimous in their gushing praise for it. And indeed while there was lots of useful information on it and the contributors obviously liked the interaction of it all, what seemed to me the most important piece of information (at least for those not in the exclusion zone) was missing.

And perhaps it's just me (and I certainly haven't used it much), but a busy Facebook page seems cluttered, clunky and confusing. Why not a simple blog-style site, with obvious links to important information? And anyone minded to could contribute their thoughts via the comments function?

Anyway, here are four YouTube videos of the demolition:

1 From the vantage point of the Law Hill. Bet the person who took this one is a tad annoyed at the kid being lifted up in front of him!

2 From the Fife side of the River Tay. This also clearly shows the remaining two Strathmartine Road multis, which are even more prominent, and are also scheduled for demolition.

3 This shows the cloud of stoor which enveloped the area for a while. Even the summit of the Law Hill - a good mile or so from the demolition site and a good bit higher up - disappeared from view for a while!

4 This is a more professional production, with views from various locations, and most of it represents a reverse perspective with the multis being resurrected rather than taken down! Clever stuff.