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Georgia implodes well-known building in Atlanta
AP 17064527178527
A dust cloud rises after demolition crews brought down the old state archives building shortly after 7 am Sunday, March 5, 2017, in a controlled implosion, in Atlanta. (Kent D. Johnson/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal was one of the onlookers for an implosion of an Atlanta building often known as the "White Ice Cube."

The Georgia Archives building collapsed in a cloud of dust after being imploded around 7 a.m. Sunday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (http://on-ajc.com/2msIIil) reported. Devin Simmons, a Children's Health Care of Atlanta patient living with sickle cell anemia, pulled the plunger to cue the implosion of the 14-story marble building located a block south of the state Capitol.

Deal spoke in a parking lot behind the Liberty Plaza before Simmons pulled the plunger.

The state archives agency moved into the building in 1965. But in 1993, engineers found that the building was sinking — a result of ground water in the area and the construction of an interstate nearby. The archives agency moved in 2003 to Morrow, Georgia.

The state plans to use the old site for a new building estimated to cost more than $110 million for the Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.

Preparations for the implosion began around 4 a.m.