Kingdome gone in a flash after dramatic implosion

One minute, the Kingdome was there, all 100,000 hulking tons of it.

Then it was gone.

Sparks flickered across the roof as 21.6 miles of demolition cord exploded, setting off a series of blasts that knocked down the support posts and collapsed the dome. The 25,000-ton roof settled tidily onto the ground like a doily - its distinctive ribs still visible - as dust from the blast blew north.

"It sent chills down your spine. Forget TV - you had to be here to see it," said John Geoffrey of Amazon.com, whose headquarters overlook the site.

It took 16.8 seconds to implode the 24-year-old Kingdome, which brought professional football and baseball to Seattle. The demolition makes room for a $430 million football-soccer stadium just north of the Mariners' new $517 million Safeco Field.

Tens of thousands of people gathered to watch from hillsides above Interstate 5 to the east, on the streets of the International District to the south, in office-tower parties and local parks to the north, and in boats of all description bobbing off the downtown waterfront.

"It happened faster than I thought. There's more dust than I thought," said Delores DeSouzaguedes, 38, a high-tech project manager interviewed at the Pike Place Market, about a half mile north.

"I'm so glad I'm not in Pioneer Square."

Area streets and a stretch of I-5 were closed during the blast, and began reopening about a half hour afterward.

"It just happened so fast. Everyone started clapping. They were just gasping and yelling and clapping," said Susan Clark, one of about 130 people who watched the implosion at a $250-a-head fund- raiser from the 11th floor of the nearby Smith Tower.

"It was just really cool to watch it blow up," said Ryan Smith, 8.

The implosion went perfectly, said Tom Gerlach of Turner Construction, which is building the new stadium and provided support to Maryland-based Controlled Demolition Inc.

"The relief is palpable," Gerlach said.

"It was every bit as strong - not only statically but dynamically - as we thought," said CDI's Mark Loizeaux of the flattened Kingdome.

Vibration from the collapse - gauged by seismic experts from the University of Washington and the U.S. Geological Survey - was less than expected and well below allowable limits, Loizeaux said.

About 99 percent of the structure fell inside the Kingdome footprint, he said.

Some windows in nearby buildings - draped in fabric to protect them - were shattered by the concussion as 68 million cubic feet of air inside the dome was displaced.

"I'm going to miss the Kingdome," said John Abrams, 17, a student at Central Valley High in Spokane who traveled about 300 miles to see it come down. "When people thought of Seattle they thought of the Space Needle and the Kingdome."

"The Kingdome is a vestige of what Seattle used to be," said Seattle attorney Patricia Raskin, 34. She was not sorry to see it go: "Progress is OK."

But Seahawks fan Barbara Anderson, 40 - she wore her team jacket for the occasion - was "very sad to see it come down.

"I'm not looking forward to freezing during outdoor football games," the retail saleswoman said.

The utilitarian Kingdome once saw Ken Griffey Jr. hit 56 homers in a season, Randy Johnson strike out 308 batters, and the Seahawks' Steve Largent break the NFL record for consecutive games with a pass reception.

But players and owners called it spartan and complained.

"It was time," said Mariners manager Lou Piniella, who watched the implosion with the players on TV at spring training camp in Peoria, Ariz. "The Kingdome served its purpose. It got outdated quickly - that's the most amazing thing about it."

A third of the debris will be used to build the Seahawks' new stadium and the rest will be sold as "valuable fill," said project spokesman Pete Pedersen.

Valuable indeed. The practical dome, built on the cheap in 1976 for $67 million, underwent $70 million in roof repairs in 1994 and millions in assorted enhancement projects and still isn't paid for. The remaining $125 million debt, financed by a 2 percent hotel-motel tax, won't be cleared until 2016.

The Seahawks will share the University of Washington's Husky Stadium until they move into their new home in 2002.

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