A man with a water hose stands nearby to spray and clear the dust rising from the rubble as the excavator reaches its mechanical claw high into the air once more, then drops in an instant to crash again through the roof of a vacant apartment building. This was the scene at the Atlanta Street public housing complex in Gainesville on Wednesday morning as demolition finally began on the 60-year-old community. Bricks, concrete blocks, rebar and shingles piled on the ground together in a massive heap as the roofs and walls were ripped off to expose the insides of units that once housed mothers, fathers, daughters and sons.
Demolition begins on Atlanta Street apartments
