National Basketball Association

Orlando's Amway Arena to be demolished

Published Mar. 25, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

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A major part of downtown Orlando will be demolished Sunday to pave the way for new video game industries.

The old Amway Arena, the former home of the Orlando Magic, will be destroyed by 200 pounds (91 kilograms) of explosives.

Crews carried out a test run of the demolition Wednesday using just a handful of sticks of dynamite.

After the initial explosion, experts said it will take 20 seconds for the 72 main columns in the arena to implode.

Sean Flanagan, of ZMG Construction, told WOFL, "The test run went as expected. Everything was done according to plan, and the results were exactly what everyone was expecting."

Nearby roads were closed off Sunday and residents and businesses told to seal off doors and windows, as well as air-conditioning units.

Once the demolition and cleanup are complete, expected in May, work can begin for a planned "Creative Village" just west of Interstate 4.

Frank Billingsley, chief of staff for Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, said the focus for the new area would be on emerging gaming technologies.

That effort was already underway, with the relocation of the University of Central Florida's gaming and video capture educational components into what used to be the downtown convention center and the addition of House of Moves, a digital motion capture company.

The project is expected to take 20 years to complete. The city anticipates about 6,500 construction jobs while it is being built and 5,000 to 8,000 permanent jobs, myFOXorlando.com reported.

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