Wednesday, March 22, 2000

By WINDA BENEDETTI
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

This Sunday, all eyes will be on the Kingdome.

Sure, you can watch the implosion on television. But for the tech-savvy, several Web sites will offer real-time coverage of the event.

You can watch the Dome's demise from high above like a bird, or from inside. Cameras will capture the big boom from nearly all angles and send the images to the world via the Internet.

And the nice thing is that you'll be able to watch the implosion time and time again. That's because most Web sites plan to archive their footage for future viewing.

Just remember: It's a good idea to stop by these sites ahead of time to see what programs you'll need to view the stadium's demise. Your computer will likely require one of the following:

• Windows Media Player (free at www.microsoft.com/windows/mediaplayer/download)

• Quicktime 4 (free at www.apple.com/quicktime/download)

• RealPlayer (free at www.real.com)

www.windowsmedia.com/preview/kingdome -- Imagine: chunks of concrete flying straight at your head, smoke threatening to envelope you, tons of rubble collapsing before your very eyes -- all while you sit in front of your home computer.

If you can't see the implosion in person, here's one way to feel (almost) as if you're there: Watch the Dome blow in 3-D.

Microsoft has teamed up with Canadian company Isee3D.com to create this live Webcast. In order to see the multidimensional images, you'll need to pick up your free red- and blue-lensed 3-D glasses at Seattle's Best Coffee shops or Tower Records.

The Webcast starts Sunday at 8 a.m. and includes a 3-D helicopter tour of the Dome before it's blasted. Head to the site right now and you can watch archived footage of buildings that have already been imploded. The images can be e-mailed to others, as well.

www.martinidesign.com/kingdome/home.htm -- Martini Design is a multimedia development firm located across the street from the Kingdome.

Throughout the Dome's deconstruction, Martini employees have endured noise pollution, earthquake-like shaking and power outages.

"It's been just out of hand on some days," says Doris Quan, who co-owns the company with Martin Rincon. "But we decided we should try to make the best of it. We decided to celebrate it instead of drown in our woes about the whole inconvenience of everything."

To celebrate the big event, the firm has installed two cameras on the roof of its building and will offer a live stream of the implosion as well as an archived copy for viewing later.

The employees themselves will not be on hand to man the cameras, because their building has to be vacated as of Friday. However, Rincon has installed a protective barrier of Plexiglas, sandbags and masonry around the cameras to protect them from flying debris. He's also installed a heater fan to ensure that condensation doesn't block the view.

Martini Design's Web page also offers Kingdome trivia and a timeline. And to blow off a little Dome frustration, the site features "The Imploder," a video game that allows those who visit the site to "Blow Your Own Dome." Here, you place packages of dynamite in and around the Kingdome in an effort to do as much damage as possible.

"People are just going nuts about it," Quan says.

www.king5.com and www.kiro.com and www.Komotv.com and www.Q13reports.com -- These are the Web sites for four local television stations that are offering live Internet coverage of the implosion as well as archived replays of the footage.

The stations will have numerous cameras rolling throughout the event -- including four inside the Dome itself (yes, they will be destroyed).

www.seattle.net -- Seanet Corp. will offer a superb view of the implosion. Its camera will be located on the 68th floor of Seattle's tallest skyscraper, the Bank of America Tower (formerly Columbia Seafirst Tower), looking down to the top of the Dome.

Here are a few more sites that offer updated images of and information about the Kingdome:

home.sprynet.com/~sandsmar/kingdome_cam.htm

www.susandennis.com/kingdome.htm

cambot.citysearch.com/cgi-bin/users/cambot/cambot?partner=kingdome

www.sherbeck.net

www.metrokc.gov/stadium

www.firstandgoal.com