Buffaloites’ great-nephew pushes the button on Texas Stadium

Texas Stadium is no more, and Buffalo's Blanche Thomas' and Marilyn Lapsik’s grand-nephew had a hand in it. In fact, his was THE hand that pushed the button that detonated the implosion.

Fireworks shot off above the building for several minutes, then hundreds of fans counted down as 11-yearold Casey Rogers of Terrell pushed a button triggering the implosion. Casey got the unique priviledge by winning an essay contest sponsored by Kraft as part of the kickoff for a new product, "Cheddar Explosion".

Casey, who is adopted, has a special passion for the homeless in his city and participates in serving meals at a shelter. His moving essay dealt with the homeless issue.

Hundreds of fans had staged "final tailgate parties" Saturday night, and Dallas area TV stations carried the implosion live. In addition to the Dallas Cowboys' games, many high school teams' playoff games were held there over the years, so a sense of nostalgia pervaded the scene. The new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington replaced Texas Stadium in 2009 as the home of the Cowboys football team.

A Tulsa-based domolition firm staged the implosion of the old stadium. The staff of Dykon Explosive Demolition Corporation reportedly spent the past week in Irving wiring the stadium with more than 1600 pounds of explosives in 2700 holes drilled into the walls and foundation. The implosion took less than a minute to reduce the concrete and stell stadium to a pile of rubble, but cleanup may take until July. The City of Irving plans to redevelop the site.