Christopher 2011-11-14 12:46:31

The Kingdome was a massive multipurpose dome-shaped stadium in Seattle. It was opened in 1976 and was the largest reinforced concrete dome in the world until its demolition in the year 2000.

a model of the kingdome

Built primarily for Seattle sports teams such as the Seahwaks, Mariners, and Supersonics, the Kingdome also hosted high school and college sports tournaments, concerts, home shows, and religious revivals. Even "paper airplane contests" were held for charity, where for $1 per piece of paper, participants had a chance to win a new car by throwing a paper airplane from the upper levels and landing it in the car's open sunroof.

Having a multipurpose stadium was economical for the owner (King County) but in the 90's Seattle's professional sports teams' owners began to threaten to move the teams elsewhere unless more profitable specialized baseball and football stadiums could be built. As Seattle is in an earthquake zone, the safety of the building was also becoming a concern. The decision was made to demolish the building and on March 26th, 2000, down it came.

People gathered from all around Puget Sound to watch the Kingdome be demolished. I watched with my father from a very safe distance away in West Seattle. The Kingdome looms large in many of my memories, and indeed in many of Seattle's collective memories. From the Kingdome's dust rose two new Seattle stadiums, Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field. May many new memories be forged there.