Neighbors and onlookers watched in relief as convicted kidnapper Ariel Castro's Seymour Avenue home was finally demolished Wednesday. The two-story house was leveled to the ground by heavy equipment after Castro's formal sentencing last week and the release of the court's order to destroy the house.

The same house served as Castro's torture chamber for the three women he kidnapped and held captive for 11 years. Between 2002 and 2004, three young women -- Amanda Berry, then 16, Gina DeJesus, then 14, and Michelle Knight, then 21 -- disappeared and were not found until May 6 of this year when one of them broke open a part of the door and screamed for help, finally alerting neighbors to the captivity that had gone for over a decade.

In a report by USA Today, many neighbors were happy at the decision to demolish the house, though still baffled at how they did not see any clues to the incident.

"It was just a constant reminder of what happened. We are still feeling bad but we are all happy it's over and done with and that the girls can move on," shared a 57-year-old woman who lived on the same block.

Another neighbor who lived behind Castro's home said, "Sooner or later somebody was going to burn it down. I couldn't get around there on my wheelchair so I came and watched it (the demolition) on the news."

Minutes before the demolition began one of the survivors, Michelle Knight, carried yellow balloons near Castro's home. She said in a statement that the balloons represented those who were kidnapped and still in captivity waiting to be found. Knight also gave a very strong and emotional statement face-to-face with her captor during the formal sentencing last week.

Fifty-three-year-old Castro pled guilty to 937 charges, including kidnapping, rape, and assault of the three women. In a court hearing, Castro pleaded guilty of all charges to avoid the death penalty. He is sentenced to life plus 1,000 years.