Monday, March 27, 2000

By VANESSA HO
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

	Perfect demolition leaves Dome a fallen souffle More stories ... Photo galleries VR tour from the field Live shot of where the Dome used to be

From sky to water to land, they staked out turf, sipped caffeine and champagne, and braved the predawn chill.

By sunrise yesterday, thousands of people had crowded onto overpasses, beaches and parks; sailed into Elliott Bay; and ascended the Space Needle and downtown high-rises to watch the mushrooming dust of the Kingdome.

Some cheered and hurled firecrackers; others quietly watched an old friend self-destruct.

Twelve hours before the implosion, the Dirks family had squeezed their recreational vehicle into the last parking space near Seacrest Park in West Seattle. Like many Dome watchers, they had a restless night.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, worth a bad night's sleep," said Greg Dirks, eating eggs and tortillas yesterday morning.

"This is a guy thing," said his wife Nancy. "I'm just along for the ride."

Some ride.

As the Dome fell, crowds whooped it up from balconies, barbecues and brunches. They also cheered from the King County Jail, where prisoners had a terrific view.

On Elliott Bay, boats and personal watercraft jockeyed for position. As the Dome fell, cheers and boat horns resounded across the water.

Near Harborview Medical Center, Maille Kessenich of Bothell slept in her car all night to snag a view.

"We tried camping at the hospital last night, but security kicked us out," she said. Some of her relatives had driven from as far away as Chelan.

"We've been looking forward to this for two years," said Kessenich's brother Steve Farrar. "The day we found out about it we decided, all right, explosion party!"

At packed Victor Steinbrueck Park, Lorene Garris and 17-year-daughter Nicole arrived from Edmonds at 5 a.m. to film the Dome from a grassy knoll.

A Mariner fan for more than 20 years, Garris, 40, said games were fun in the warmth of the Dome.

"Now you've got to bring an umbrella and wear your thermals," she said. "It seems like the Dome should have been there forever, like an ancient building in Egypt. It's an icon."

From Kenmore, Shawn Boling, 37, drove to Seattle to witness destruction over blueberry muffins and coffee.

A Puget Sound-area native, Boling said he will miss the landmark from the skyline, even though it was ugly and a little clammy inside.

"It was pretty hideous, but it was one of the things that made Seattle Seattle," said Boling, a district manager for Aramark Uniform Services. "The Dome, grunge, coffee -- that's how we got to be so unique."

Seventeen-year-old Lydia Allen said losing the Dome was like losing a piece of her past. For her 8th birthday, her mom had taken her to her first concert there -- a sold-out New Kids on the Block show.

Amid the dust, some struck gold.

Janna Pekaar and friend Mark Ukelson made $60 by performing a personal rendition of the implosion: Pekaar wore a mini-Dome made of hula hoops, chicken wire, newspaper, and a pie tin.

For a dollar, Ukelson would push the button (really a bike pump), prompting Pekaar to scream, sprinkle dust and make her dome tumble.

"It's a beautiful day for an implosion," she observed.

Comedy aside, the Central Area graduate student said she was angry that the city was destroying a perfectly good building -- especially, she said, when class sizes are big and teachers have to buy their own supplies.

Many others, however, found a reason to party.

"I say death to the Dome!" hollered kayaker Chris Littlefair in Elliott Bay. "Death to the Dome!"

At Occidental Park, about 200 people -- some shirtless, others bundled in blankets -- crowded a police barricade, hooting and tossing firecrackers as news helicopters buzzed overhead.

At Times Square in New York City, about 50 people reacted with typical attitude after seeing the live dust show on a big screen.

"It's the end of an era," said John Kaminski, applauding loudly. "Maybe now they can get some pride back in Seattle."

Yankee fan Adam Lusk also cheered. "It's just too bad the Seattle Mariners weren't in there when it went down -- after what they did to the Yankees in the 1995 playoffs," he said.

P-I reporter Vanessa Ho can be reached at 206-448-8003 or vanessaho@seattle-pi.com

P-I reporters Scott Sunde, Heath Foster, Amy Nevala, Lewis Kamb, Kimberly A.C. Wilson, Jack Hopkins and correspondent Nathan Kitchens contributed to this report.