The Grand Palace Hotel's last wake up call was for all of New Orleans. At the stroke of 8 a.m., a boom sounded through the city from the corner of N. Claiborne Ave. and Canal St. Less than 10 seconds later, a cloud of tan dust billowed skyward, and a part of the cityscape was no more. As scheduled, the Grand Palace Hotel was imploded, sending a 60-year-old, 17-story building to the ground to make way for the University Medical Center. Click through to view photos of the demolition from inside the hospital footprint, and under Interstate 10 on N. Claiborne Ave., and a play-by-play.

Today, watch a 17-story building go down into a cloud of dust, Sunday second-line to celebrate the new home of Luke’s House Clinic, Shakespeare set to jazz at Tulane, French animated film A Cat in Paris shows at Zeitgeist, and Kid Merv celebrates his new album at d.b.a. On this day in history, blues harmonica great Pat Ramsey was born in Shreveport (1953). Don't get the blues today, get some of these:

Early Sunday morning, the state is planning to implode the 60-year-old Grand Palace Hotel on the corner of Claiborne and Canal July 22 at 8:00am to make way for the construction of University Medical Center. Earlier this month, a fire in the upper levels of the former hotel did not deter plans to demolish the blighted has-been. Before plotting where to set up your lawn chairs, make sure you don’t end up in the dust cloud. Here's some info about the implosion itself and streets that will be closed:

On this week's index of infractions, cross-dressing crime returns in the French Quarter, carjackings abound and a snatched iPhone gets passed between three people. Here's the weekly blue light special of dispatches from the police beat:

Fiery destruction was always in the cards for the huge abandoned building near the corner of Canal and Claiborne, but it came a few weeks earlier than expected last night. Preparation for the massive implosion planned for the former Grand Palace Hotel later this month might have caused last night's fire, according to the New Orleans Fire Department. Firefighters haven't determined an official cause, but reported that just before the fire, contractors used torches to cut holes to place explosives in order to prepare for the July 22 demolition.

CBD -- A plume of smoke stretched across the sky in the center of New Orleans tonight. Turns out, the billowing smoke originated on the top floors of the former Grand Palace Hotel, at the corner of Canal St. and N. Claiborne Ave., which caught fire after 8 p.m. The two-alarm blaze forced road closures around the area of the 18-story building, including Interstate 10 in both directions between the Claiborne Ave. and Orleans Ave., according to officials. About 10:30 p.m., the interstate was reopened.