Note: Reporter Jodie Mozdzer is filing occasional vignettes from the demolition of buildings at the Riverside Apartments on Olson Drive.
There was nothing else to do.
So Thursday afternoon, James Roy, 18, and Daniel Johnson, 18, headed over to Olson Drive to check out day three of the Riverside Apartment complex demolition.
They were among only about four or five people watching the scene at about 1 p.m.
“It’s sad,” Roy said. “People used to live there.”
Roy pointed his cigarette toward a second-floor window in Building 2, the next building scheduled to be torn down.
“I want to see them knock that one down,” he said. “My friend used to live on the second floor there.”
As the demolition heated up – and started to resemble the wreckage of a bombing – the spectators diminished.
The first day small groups stood around watching. The second day, a line of cars parked across the street.
Thursday afternoon, a couple people pulled over to the side of the road to watch the demolition. One snapped a picture, but drove away within a couple of minutes.
“Realistically, it took two murders for them to say let’s destroy them,” said Riverside resident Tearron Dinkins, 19, who paused to watch the demolition Thursday.
It’s an eyesore, Dinkins said. And it’s about time it was torn down.
“I’m going to miss them,” Roy said to Dinkins.
“Not me,” Dinkins said, turning to walk away. 
Click below to read other dispatches.
