John Beale, Post-Gazette This sequence of four photos shows the implosion yesterday of the 14-story Garfield Heights public-housing complex, which opened in 1966.

After a series of bangs that sounded like drumbeats, the 14-story high-rise that towered over the Garfield Heights public housing community for 39 years was imploded yesterday.

Heavy yellow-gray smoke billowed. Children on a field trip from the Ellis and Fort Pitt schools wore white masks over their noses and mouths. Men and women in suits hugged, thanking and congratulating each other for ridding society of yet another monolithic substitute for a community.

The building had sat vacant since December, its residents moved across Mossfield Street into The Commons at North Aiken, a 1-year-old senior citizens apartment building. By the time the 275-unit high-rise was evacuated, it had fewer than 80 residents.

During pre-implosion ceremonies, Mary Knox spoke, listing on the podium without her walker. A resident of the high-rise for 32 years, she said when it was new, residents called it the Garfield Hilton.

"We had good times and fond memories, and then we had bad times, but I still called it home," she said. "Farewell Garfield high-rise. Adios!"

Looking hugely forlorn, the building was long and narrow, and its units created a gridwork of balconies, every other one of which had a red panel so that the red panels lined up vertically. The red had faded and discoloration mottled the strips of facade between floors.

Steve Cioppa of Phase One Development Corp., a company that removes asbestos, mold and lead, said the remediation included 100,000 square feet of asbestos floor tile and glue. The demolition was paid for with a $1.78 million Department of Housing and Urban Development grant.

After Mayor Tom Murphy and Knox pushed the detonator, the building stood for several seconds. Then the drumming began and a slice of its middle dropped, cleanly like an elevator. Moments later, the sides buckled toward the center and the last corner toppled into clouds of ash and dust.

Eula Henderson was a resident for 15 years. She moved across the street last year. "The next time I move I'll be carried out," she said. "Moving is too hard of a job."

Henderson, a native of Tennessee, came to Pittsburgh with a friend on a whim when she was 17 and the friends rented an apartment in the Hill District. Now 72, she never left Pittsburgh after marrying here and raising five children.

"I'm going to have emotions when it comes down," she said before the implosion. "I lost my husband and my oldest son while I was living there. The building was kept up good. You called for anything, they came and fixed it. They had a nice activity room."

The three-story Commons has the exterior look of modern townhouses. Inside, it is a well-appointed senior home with 64 apartment units. It is one example of how the city Housing Authority wants to proceed with new housing, said spokesman Chuck Rohrer.

Keith Kinard, authority executive director, described the high-rise as "a clear picture of the past" and the Commons as "the vision of the future."

The Garfield Heights community includes numerous three-story apartment buildings, all built in the mid-1960s, that had to be draped against the ash and dust. The residents were evacuated yesterday morning.

Only minutes after the building disappeared, the last cloud of ash and dust went wafting up and over the Garfield water tower.