Authorities in Medellin, Colombia have used 180 detonators to demolish a six-floor apartment building that notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar and his family have once called home.

The massive concrete structure - the Monaco- stood unoccupied for over 30 years after the building became the target of a car bomb attack in 1988. Over 1,5000 people have been evacuated from the vicinity of the house as authorities established a 100-meter security zone for the demolition.

At 11:53am local time, the building in the Poblado neighborhood was gone, sending a thick cloud of dust into the air in front of hundreds of witnesses. Authorities hope to use the clear space to build a park to honor the victims of the drug war in the country.

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“Today, that building falls and hope begins,” President Ivan Duque of Colombia said in a televised statement. “It is impossible to change the past, but you can build a better present and a better future.”

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