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 Kingdome
Seattle, WA
When demolition day for the Kingdome came in
2000, many fans were ready to watch the dome be imploded. Before the
Mariners franchise began playing baseball in 1977, MLB awarded
Seattle a franchise in 1969, the Seattle Pilots, who played at
Sicks Stadium. However that franchise was bought by the
Milwaukee Brewers Inc. and moved to Milwaukee for the 1970 season.
Talk of a dome stadium first began in the
1960s. The main problem was the location that the stadium was
going to be built. By 1972, a site for the dome stadium in downtown Seattle was chosen to build on. Construction began soon
after and the dome was completed by March 1976. The stadium was
named the Kingdome because of its location in King County, Washington.
Once again, MLB award Seattle franchise, this time the team was
named the Seattle Mariners. Opening day came on April 6, 1977
as over 57,000
fans filled the Kingdome. The Kingdome consisted of a three
tier grandstand. The upper deck extended from the left field foul
pole to home plate and around to right center field and the first and
second decks circled the entire stadium. The Kingdome was home to
football, baseball, basketball, soccer and many other events during
its existence. The right field wall was 23 feet high and named the
'walla-walla.' A scoreboard/video board was located above the seats in
left field. The roof was 250 feet at its highest point above the
Astroturf playing surface. Several speakers that were in play,
dangled considerably lower and were hit numerous times by both fair
and foul balls. Very few changes took place at the Kingdome over the
years. In 1990, an out of town scoreboard was incorporated as part
of the right field wall. Hardly anyone liked the ugly concrete
Kingdome. By the early 1990s the Mariners began lobbying to build a
new stadium. In 1994, several tiles from the Kingdome’s roof fell
causing the team to play elsewhere. By 1997, ground was broken for a
new ballpark,
Safeco Field. The last Mariners game at the Kingdome was on July
27, 1999. The Seattle Seahawks (NFL), continued to play there until
the end of the 1999 NFL season. On March 26, 2000 the Kingdome was
imploded. The Seattle Seahawks new stadium, Qwest Field is located on the site
where the Kingdome was located.
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