PART
III: BLAST DAY
Thousands
of people lined the perimeter of the site to witness the end
of the Vet. National media coverage of the implosion was extensive
with at least six helicopters hovering over the site to transmit
the blast live around the world. Dignitaries including Philadelphia
Mayor John Street and representative of the Phillies organization
along with the famous Phillie Phanatic witnessed the implosion
from a special viewing area.
Phillies
left fielder from those great teams of the late 1970s and
the 1980 World Champions, Greg "the Bull" Luzinski
was given the honor of pushing the symbolic plunger that started
Demolition Dynamics' charges. One onlooker played taps as
the Vet began to fall to earth.
The shot
was extremely successful and went just as planned, without
a single incident of liability or property damage. Local neighbors
cheered the skill of the Association members who brought the
stadium down in picture-perfect fashion. Neighborhood residents
from Geary Street (the roadway nearest to the Vet) came out
of their homes and hugged Association President Bill Moore,
vice president of Brandenburg, after the blast.
"It
was probably the most incredible implosion I've ever seen,"
said Demolition Dynamics Steve Pettigrew, "and I've been
in the business for 27 years. The breakage inside the bowl
is tremendous. On the south side, some of the debris is five
feet below grade, which will make life easier for the next
phase of the work, the recycling."
The implosion
left a mass of concrete debris that will be processed and
used as fill to level the area. Brandenburg is utilizing the
largest known mobile crusher in the United States to assist
in processing an estimated 70,000 cubic yards of concrete
from the Vet. The area will be leveled and used for a 5,000-space
parking lot.
The Phillies
plan to paint an outline of the Vet's playing field across
the new lot and place granite markers where home plate, the
pitcher's mound and bases once stood.
The normally
hyper-critical Philadelphia press had nothing but praise for
the Association member team that conducted this flawless demolition.
The fears of the local community, the concerns of municipal
authorities and the skepticism of local media all vanished
as the relic that was Veteran's Stadium disappeared into a
pile, ready for recycling.
The new
home of the Philadelphia Phillies, nearby Citizens Bank Park,
opened to a sellout crowd just 13 days after the implosion
(above). Fans attending the Phillies home opener walked past
the remains of the Vet and watched Brandenburg's recycling
plant remove the last vestige of 30 years of Philadelphia
memories.
Implosionworld.com photographers George Wolf, George Tompkins,
Jeff Chambers, Jack Curran, John Italiano, Bill Rogers, Dave
Carpenter, Patrick Shanahan, Brent Blanchard and Spencer Blanchard
contributed to this presentation. This article has been edited
for space and content.
