Kingdome Should Go Out With A Bang Demolition With Wrecking Ball Would Take Nearly A Year
The organization over-seeing plans to build a new football stadium in King County - most likely on the site of the Kingdome - says the concrete stadium should be blown to bits rather than knocked down with a wrecking ball.
The Washington State Public Stadium Authority, in a draft environmental impact statement released Wednesday, said an implosion would reduce the Kingdome to rubble in about 30 seconds, and that all the debris would be removed within five months.
A more conventional demolition would take nearly a year and could be more dangerous to workers, the authority said.
An implosion wouldn’t damage buildings in the nearby, historic Pioneer Square district, said Jean Garber, the environmental planning coordinator for the authority.
The draft review also determined it would cost about $60 million less to build the new stadium on the Kingdome site rather than at an alternative site that was considered in the Green River Valley near Kent.
The $425 million football stadium project is scheduled to break ground this fall, with the Kingdome demolition coming in early 2000 and the new stadium finished by July 2002.
After public hearings, a final environmental review is scheduled to be released in April. Until then, building on the Kingdome site is not a foregone conclusion, officials cautioned.
“Certainly, this points in a direction, but we have significant more work to do before we can say that,” said Phillip Kushlan, executive director of the stadium authority.
Voters approved the project last June. Taxpayers will pay about $325 million of the cost for the new stadium and an exhibition center, while billionaire Paul Allen, the new owner of the Seattle Seahawks, kicks in $100 million.
xxxx WHAT’S NEXT The $425 million project for a new football stadium is scheduled to break ground this fall, with the Kingdome demolition coming in early 2000 and the new stadium finished by July 2002.