Oakland Naval Hospital demolished with a bang
Oakland Naval Hospital, formerly called Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, which closed 15 years ago, imploded just after noon when City Councilman Larry Reid detonated 800 pounds of dynamite that blasted the 11-story building into a pile of rubble.
Neighbors applauded the demolition and exchange high-fives. Navy nurses wept. Developers sweated with relief. City officials beamed like 5-year-olds.
Reid could not stop smiling. One would think the city had a balanced budget, the A’s were staying and he just got a table at Fenton’s.
“It was awesome,” Reid said. “They asked about different ways of demolishing it. Wrecking ball and crane? I said no. We want an implosion.”
The hospital served Navy personnel and their families for 28 years, from the time it opened in 1968 until the Navy pulled out in 1996. Thousands were born or died there. Vietnam casualties were treated there. Prisoners of war healed there. Ground-breaking research in prosthetics, dialysis, tissue grafts and psychiatry happened there.
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