‘White Ice Cube’ to be imploded Sunday

State courts building to take its place; 5-year-old to push the button.

The former Georgia Archives building will be demolished, and Gov. Nathan Deal will be there.

The state will implode the former Georgia Archives building in the shadow of the Capitol at about 7 a.m. Sunday, and Gov. Nathan Deal will be there to watch.

Tearing down the building, nicknamed the White Ice Cube, will make way for a state courts building. Deal has included $105 million to build the new facility in his budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, a measure that has already passed the state House.

Georgia Building Authority officials said there will be a public viewing area at Memorial Drive and Martin Street, although there will be no special parking available at that location.

There will be rolling lane closures on interstates downtown, and some areas — such as Capitol Avenue and Memorial Drive near the site — will be closed to traffic between 6 and 7:30 a.m. Interstate road closures will run from 6:50 to 7:30 a.m.

Preparation for the implosion will begin Sunday at about 4 a.m., and work will continue after the event.

Warning signals will begin sounding at 6:45 a.m. Deal will speak at about 6:55 a.m. in a parking lot behind Liberty Plaza, and 5-year-old Devin Simmons, a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta patient with sickle cell anemia, will push the plunger to cue the implosion at 6:59 a.m.

The former archives building was built in 1965 on Capitol Avenue. About three decades after it opened, engineers determined that it was sinking due to groundwater and nearby interstate construction. Estimates to repair and refurbish the archives hit $40 million.

Instead of spending the money, a new archives facility was built near Clayton State University, and the former archives building has been used as a movie set on and off for years.

Governors have sought to tear it down since the move. But lawmakers have been skeptical about spending money on the project.

Last year they approved a state budget that included Deal’s proposal to borrow $6.5 million for design and site preparation for the new judicial complex.

AJC The state plans to bring down the former Georgia Archives building on Sunday and build a new courthouse for the Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.