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Neighbors wary of Kingdome demolition

Wednesday, June 16, 1999

By ALAN SNEL Mail Author
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Everyone agrees the earth is going to rumble and the dust is going to fly.

But those who live and work near the Kingdome can only hope that D-Day at the spaceship-shaped sports stadium -- Demolition Day -- doesn't deliver the mess and damage that an infamous implosion brought upon downtown Detroit in October.

The company picked to reduce the Kingdome to rubble to make way for the Seahawks' new stadium in 2002 also caused $4 million in damage to the Motor City's downtown monorail loop Oct. 24.

Controlled Demolition Inc. of Phoenix, Md., picked to implode the Kingdome, promised Detroit authorities that the J.L Hudson's department store implosion would not damage the city's three-mile "People Mover," which runs past the building.

But when Hudson's fell, eight concrete-filled steel columns collapsed outward, falling across the People Mover, said Albert Martin, director of the Detroit Department of Transportation.

The damaged monorail was about 50 feet from the old 28-floor store -- until the explosives went off, Martin said.

The Kingdome is a little more removed from nearby structures. The northern edge of the exhibition center and garage under construction is 180 feet from the Kingdome, which is being razed in either March or April to make way for the 72,000-seat football/soccer stadium, parking garage and exhibition hall in 2002.

"We're pretty concerned because we're so close," said Jayson Spencer, assistant manager of Squire Properties in the Squire Center Building at 901 Occidental Ave. S., about 180 feet from the stadium.

"We're going to be down for two days (during demolition), and they haven't told us what they are going to do to protect us as a business owner and what will be the steps they will take to prevent damage," Spencer said. "What will be the extent of the damage? What will it do structurally to our building?"

Not that having more distance from the doomed Dome is enough to calm all fears.

"The Detroit news is disconcerting," said Bradley Scharf, who lives in the 108-unit Florentine Condominiums several hundred yards north of the Kingdome. "There is a lot at stake."

In Detroit, the city sued Controlled Demolition's insurer in hopes of recovering the cost of repairing the 400-foot section of the now-closed monorail. The closure has caused hardships for restaurants and small shops along the closed stretch, Martin said.

The Detroit monorail cars no longer go one way in one complete loop, Martin said. Instead, the train goes back and forth between stations.

Even with that, Martin wasn't critical of Controlled Demolition.

"Accidents will occur," he said.

CDI Vice President Doug Loizeaux was unavailable for comment yesterday. But a CDI Web site describing the company's biggest jobs said the Detroit demolition assignment caused "cosmetic" and "minor structural" damage to the tramway.

Heralded in the construction industry as a premier demolition company, CDI has blasted more than 7,000 buildings, smokestacks, bridges and towers in 52 years, including the 12-story Olympic National Life Building in Seattle in 1982 and the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas last year.

CDI's high-profile demolitions have also surfaced in such movies as "Mars Attacks" and "Lethal Weapon 3."

About $9 million is budgeted for Kingdome demolition, including the Controlled Demolition contract announced yesterday.

The Seahawk stadium's general contractor, Turner Corp., and First & Goal, formed by Seahawk owner Paul Allen in 1997 to manage the $430 million stadium and exhibition center development, were both confident of CDI's ability to safely reduce the Kingdome to rubble.

"They did have some damage (in Detroit), and they're not happy about it," said Tom Gerlach, Turner's general manager at the Kingdome site. "But there's no comparison between the two buildings."

Gerlach stressed that Detroit's monorail was 12 feet at its closest point to the old department store, while the new parking garage is 180 feet from the Kingdome. He said 50 feet is considered an appropriate buffer.

Detroit's rail line was damaged at a point that is 50 feet from the old building, said Martin, Detroit's transportation chief.

A spokeswoman for the Washington State Public Stadium Authority, which will own the football stadium, also expressed support for CDI. "Everything that we have seen has shown they can accomplish the job well," said Suanne Pelley, the authority's community affairs director.

Sara-Jane Bellanca, a Florentine Condominiums resident who has attended meetings with First & Goal and Turner, said it is in Allen's own interest to get the best demolition artist, because he owns the buildings closest to the Kingdome. "You're never 100 percent sure on anything, but we're close to perfection with CDI," Bellanca said.

While CDI will draft the implosion plan and execute it, the company will work with Aman Environmental Construction Inc. of Covina, Calif. Aman, also picked by Turner Corp. for the Seattle job, will prepare the Kingdome for implosion, salvage stadium materials and recycle the 75,000 cubic yards of concrete.

Bellanca said residents of the Dome area will have to live with the effects of the carting off of the concrete and the crushing of the material for a much longer time than the high-profile but extremely brief implosion.

Workers will begin dismantling the Dome in January.

Spencer said he was informed by First & Goal that the Kingdome demolition in March or April will not be one big boom, but a series of explosions that will implode the roof first, then level the rest of the structure in a circular fashion, with dust falling in the parking lot away from businesses.

Tom McQuaid, owner of Nordic Cold Storage at 547 Occidental Ave. S., said he has faith Seattle will not suffer the same fate as Detroit.

"I did not know about Detroit, but what are the odds (of damage), really?"

P-I reporter Alan Snel can be reached at 206-448-8029 or alansnel@seattle-pi.com

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