removal. AB-Haz was ultimately cited for violating air emission standards during the asbestos removal, and signed a settlement in which the company agreed to pay an $18,000 fine. Central Environmental was removing asbestos from the tower as of August 1995. Because of previous delays, officials for LVCVA had given up on setting a demolition date until all the asbestos was removed. In October 1995, LVCVA paid Iconco Inc. $740,000 to remove remaining asbestos from the resort, hoping to have it demolished in time for ConExpo to be held on the property's new parking lot in March 1996. Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) was hired to implode the tower. No blueprints could be found for the tower, which CDI president Mark Loizeaux considered unusual. Demolition crews discovered secret stairwells in the tower, and Loizeaux said, "We have learned everything as we have gone in. It was a very strange structure, very unique." A week before the Landmark tower was demolished, crews removed the remaining asbestos from the low-rise structures and subsequently tore them down. Crews then spent the final days of demolition by drilling in the tower to weaken and prepare it ahead of its planned implosion. Less than 100 pounds of dynamite was placed in certain locations throughout the tower's first four floors. At 5:37 a.m. on November 7, 1995, the Landmark tower was demolished through implosion. An estimated 7,000 people arrived to witness the implosion. Upon detonation, the tower's northwest half was brought down, followed by the second half, which caved in on itself, followed by a black cloud of dust ascending 150 feet into the air. Most of the material from the demolished structure was to be recycled and used in other construction projects. The 31-story tower was the tallest reinforced concrete building ever demolished in North America, and the second tallest building in the world to be demolished. Demolition and related expenses cost $3 million. Frank Wright, curator of the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, said "I kind of hate to see it come down," stating that the Landmark tower still represented what the then-upcoming Stratosphere tower represented: "the biggest and the tallest." The property was to become occupied by 2,200 parking spaces, expected to be ready by March 1996. One of the Landmark's ground-level signs, with gold and blue cursive neon lettering, was restored by the Neon Museum and installed at the parking lot. As of