By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
bformby@dallasnews.com

IRVING — More than 38 years of football and entertainment memories came crashing down Sunday morning when 11-year-old Casey Rogers pushed the button that set off 2,715 pounds of dynamite, leveling Texas Stadium in less than a minute.

All that remained standing at the Dallas Cowboys' former home after the implosion were three buttresses at the southeast end of the stadium where the implosion process started. Demolition officials said that the columns were being held up by debris and would be easy to demolish.

Residents reported feeling the blasts as far away as Farmers Branch and Highland Park.

The implosion was witnessed by thousands of fans who parked in the stadium's Red Lot and lined streets surrounding the stadium all its sides. Fans began arriving for a chance to see the implosion late Saturday night, and Irving officials opened the red lot 20 minutes early because of the line to get in.

Fans cheered as Casey, of Terrell, pushed the button starting the demolition process. Casey, who runs a charity that helps homeless people in Dallas, won a national essay contest sponsored by Kraft Foods. Kraft sponsored the implosion as part of its marketing campaign for its "Cheddar Explosion" macaroni and cheese product.

"It was awesome," Casey said. "Just watching it come down was different from my dreams. It's a once in a lifetime chance."

The demolition plan cost just under $6 million. To be prepared for the implosion, the stadium was stripped down to concrete and steel and the lower bowl filled with dirt. It imploded in a domino fashion starting in the southwest end zone, falling simultaneously along both sidelines to finish in the northeast end zone. The roof with its famous hole fell in over the stadium's footprint.

The Cowboys won all five of their Super Bowl titles while playing in Texas Stadium. They moved to the new $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium in Arlington last year.

"Even in the dawn, (driving in) we slowed down and took a real good look at it. You get a little lump in your throat," said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who bought the team and the stadium lease for $160 million in 1989. "It was beautiful."

Irving officials decided to raze the stadium after it was determined there would be little use for the structure. Officials want a high-end development there in the future – perhaps something akin to Millennium Park in Chicago. But for the next 10 years, it will be the staging area for highway construction in the area.

Just south of Highway 183, a few families had set up tents by the street side on a little patch of grass not already occupied. Shelly Garcia and her son Jordan Garcia, 11, originally from Irving, had been there since 10 p.m. They had left Austin the day before around noon. Jordan could barely remember attending a Cowboys-Eagles game in 2005.

"It's sad, but cool," Jordan said. "We've never seen anything implode before."

Just after 5 a.m. on the west side of the stadium, Larry Hoofard, 52, a dock man from Euless, found a mound of dirt at a small construction site along Tom Braniff for a front row seat. Hoofard said he sold popcorn in the stadium when he was in high school, his prom was held in the Stadium Club, and his high school graduation was on the stadium floor.

As the fireworks went off before the implosion, he stood silently with his hands in his sweatshirt pockets. He flinched a little when the dynamite started to go off. He didn't cheer like the rest of the crowd, and stood on the mound long after others left.

"It was kind of scary. I didn't know you were going to feel it," Hoofard said.

He didn't take any pictures, but he said, "I'll remember."

Staff writers Mark Norris and Avi Selk and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

     How sad..... Thanks for this alert, Glenn.