The central city cafe - an institution since opening in 1958 - had become Ms Kennedy's "second home" since she began work there as a waitress in 1961.
Yesterday, surveying the wreckage left behind by two collapses of the building's parapet above, Ms Kennedy said she was yet to learn if the cafe had survived unscathed.
The street remained cordoned off, a pile of wreckage blocked views of the cafe and engineers and Dunedin City Council building control officers were yet to re-enter the building to check for damage inside.
Ms Kennedy was at home when she received a phone call yesterday morning to say part of the building had collapsed.
Visiting the cordoned-off street later, she heard a rumble and watched a second slab of already-damaged parapet crumble about 5pm, demolishing the cafe's veranda below.
The scene was "quite upsetting", she said.
"I have worked here for a long time. It's like a home to me. By God, it came down with a bang," she said.
If it had survived unscathed, it was possible the cafe could reopen with days, but the alternative was enough to bring Ms Kennedy to tears.
"My sister in America called, and I cried with her too.
"Since 1958 it's been the Dragon. That's a long time, and to see it like that is awful," she said.
