On June 16, 2018, two cooling towers at Jacksonville’s St. Johns River Power Park imploded. Spectators watched the planned demolition that turned the 464-foot towers into dust. Recognized as the second-tallest cooling towers to ever be imploded, the structures were demolished using 1,500 pounds and of dynamite and 12,000 feet of linear detonation. 100,000 tons of concrete and 20 tons of steel reinforcement rods collapsed in a matter of seconds. According to JEA, the cost of continuing to run the cooling towers outweighed the cost of destroying them. The power park is being decommissioned in phases as part of an effort to modernize the facility.

Spanning 1,600 acres in Jacksonville, the coal-fired St. John’s River Power Park has been in operation since 1987. It produced 260 megawatts of power over three decades. Operations stopped in January 2018, and the tower implosion occurred as part of the first phase of demolition. Next to be removed in the three-phase demolition plan are the boilers and the 640-foot smoke stack, the tallest structure in the park. They will be demolished next year.

Total Wrecking held the cooling tower demolition contract, and Controlled Demolition served as the implosion subcontractor. According to the Frank Bodami, the manager of Total Wrecking, up to 98.8% of the waste produced by the implosion will be recycled. In partnership with Dreams Come True, bidding was held to determine who would press the button to set off the explosion. A man from Ponte Vedra Beach won the auction and let his eighteen-year-old son push the button and ignite the implosion while people from all over the area waited and watched.