Such a sad thing. In the 1960s, when the idea began to gather steam, people envisioned it as a way to put Seattle on the map. Later, following much debate, plans went ahead to put the stadium near the King Street train station. Yesterday, former Gov. John Spellman, who helped shepherd the Dome as King County executive from the late 1960s to early 1980s, refused to watch the implosion. But the implosion attracted the attention of the world, for various reasons.
People see a building that has been around for a long time.
He added that he thought some people would watch in anticipation for something to go awry. But, the implosion was picture perfect. The blast crews approached the Kingdome with healthy respect for its engineering. The stadium had to be strong enough to withstand an earthquake in a seismically active region such as the Puget Sound area. But it also had to be flexible enough to handle the motion created by the Earth or the shuffling of the more than 73 million visitors.