Monday, March 27, 2000

By ROBERT L. JAMIESON Jr.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

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Ken Griffey Jr. was known for booming home runs. Seahawk Brian Bosworth was a household name because of his gridiron macho and motor-mouth.

But Kingdome lore includes other characters and events that are just as colorful, dynamic and worthy of the memory books.

Consider Captain America Jones.

Jones -- his first name was Allen -- was hired to dive into a tank of water filled with rattlesnakes and piranhas. Jones's goal: Plunk in and get out. Fast!

But during his dive he scraped his leg on the bottom of the tank, and the snap-happy fish went wild.

A first aid crew in the Dome patched him up, but shortly afterward, during his next tank plunge, he split his new stitches.

Water again played a big role in the Dome in the late 1970s, when Boy Scouts gathered around a 50,000-gallon pool that had been specially installed to demonstrate a learn-to-swim program. A choir from Boeing was on hand for the event.

But a problem quickly surfaced. "Just about the time the Boeing choir was beginning to sing, we discovered a leak in the pool," said John O'Brien, who at the time was a Kingdome manager.

"One of the lads had poked a hole in the canvas with his pocket knife and water was threatening to short out the entire electrical system."

Maintenance workers shut off the power, silencing the choir for most spectators. Firefighters were dispatched to pump water from the pool into storm drains on Occidental Street.

Another gathering of youngsters in the Dome had a happier -- if not sappier -- ending. In October 1995, more than 34,000 young people and their parents gathered for a Barney sing-along.

One parent described the event as a "sea of shrieking purple" -- although she said adults seemed to be just as excited to see the giant purple dinosaur dance and prance.

Indeed, the two decades of the Kingdome have been a kaleidoscope of non-sporting events -- square dancing, Motocross, evangelical gatherings, low-rider car shows, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, nuclear freeze rallies and home shows.

Home shows were most popular. Shoppers blitzed through the Dome toward items on display, such as huge backyard wooden playsets with monstrous names that even a Mariner slugger could love.

Ken Griffey Jr. bought the "Double King Kong" for his real home team -- his kids.

Home shows also served up kitsch: The Can-O-Worms garbage eater and the Salsa Master, accompanied by a sign -- "as advertised on TV."

When events under the Dome threatened to become boring, a surprise would keep everyone on their toes. In 1980, a rodeo became wilder than normal when a Brahma bull got loose, ran up to the 100-level stairs and circled the concourse. The bull was eventually rounded up in a restroom.

Only under the Dome -- Seattle's very own concrete big tent.