Thread: The Vet to come down today

CLEARWATER, FLA. -- Veterans Stadium, home of the Phillies since the 1971 season, is scheduled to depart at 7 a.m. ET today, and will be televised on MLB.TV, as well as on Comcast.

"It's closure," said current Phillies manager Larry Bowa, who recorded the first hit at the Vet. "It's time to move on."

Demolition has been a daily procedure since October. Concrete ramps, the lower seating bowl, various offices and rooms, clubhouses, locker rooms, outside walls and the Liberty Bell have been removed. The Vet is a 102-column concrete skeleton.

Brandenburg Industrial Service Company and Demolition Dynamics Company are handling the demolition and implosion, respectively. DDC's previous work has included Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta and Cinergy Field in Cincinnati.

The 62-second implosion will begin in the southwest corner and travel clockwise. Instead of a conventional implosion in which the structure falls straight down, DDC is rotating the stadium onto the old playing field. The top of the Vet will topple inward creating a pile of debris between 30 and 50 feet high. DDC said that dust will be minimal, though that could depend on the wind.

"I'd like to be there when it explodes," said catcher Mike Lieberthal, the longest tenured Phillie. "I've never seen an explosion quite that large before. That would be great to watch it fall."

Though he won't be watching in person, Lieberthal plans to look at the footage. City officials are hoping local fans and curious onlookers do the same -- watch it from afar.

Veterans Stadium was the site of the city's World Series win in 1980 and is one of the last of the "cookie-cutter" stadiums. Three Rivers in Pittsburgh went down in 2001, while Cinergy/Riverfront went after the 2002 season. After today, only Busch Stadium in St. Louis remains. This will no doubt be an event, but police are hoping for safety first.

To ensure this, federal and local officials plan to transform the area around the stadium into a secure area, starting in the early hours. No cars or pedestrians will be permitted in the "blast zone" -- an area around Broad and Pattison. The zone includes areas between Lawrence Street (east), 18th Street (west) and the Schuylkill Expressway (north) and Interstate 95 (south).

The zone will be closed at 5 a.m. and remain closed until the Health Department has deemed the area safe again. Shortly before 7 a.m., police will close sections of I-95, I-76 and the Walt Whitman Bridge, for up to 30 minutes.


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Service on the SEPTA Broad Street subway line will not run south of Oregon Avenue today.
Some people booked rooms at the Holiday Inn at 10th and Packer, and they were booked within 12 hours of the implosion date being set.

"I will picture it as long as I live, and the memories I have from the Vet will be there, too," said long-time broadcaster Harry Kalas, who was there when the park opened on April 10, 1971. "Even though the structure will be gone, I'll always remember the moments."

The unanimous crowing moment at Veterans Stadium came on Oct. 21, 1980, when Tug McGraw struck out Willie Wilson and waited for third baseman Mike Schmidt to leap into his arms.

"I'm sure a lot of guys out there want to see it blown up, but we were world champions there," Bowa said. "We were division champions there. We played an All-Star game there. We played with two Hall-of-Famers (Schmidt and Steve Carlton) and another one waiting to get in (Pete Rose). It was a special place."

For the previous six weeks, DDC has drilled 2,800 holes in the remaining columns. The explosives were packed on Monday, and they've also been wrapping some pillars with layers of rubber conveyor belt, two layers of chain-link fence and a tightly woven fabric to keep smaller debris from blasting outward. Roughly 3,000 pounds of dynamite will be needed to bring the Vet.

The Phillies aren't saying who will push the ceremonial button, but once it is pushed, a series of explosions will rumble for a few seconds and then the building will begin to topple.

As the remaining concrete is removed from the site that will soon become a parking lot, the Phillies will begin their new era across the street. An additional 5,000 parking spots will exist in the Sports Complex once the demolition process has been completed this fall. When the parking lot is finished, the Phillies will commemorate the Vet by painting an outline of the Stadium's playing field and placing granite markers at the former home plate, pitching mound and base locations.

By that time, a new era of Phillies baseball will have begun at Citizens Bank Park.

"(The Vet) was the stadium," said Bowa, "but it's a different era. Hopefully, these players can leave their legacy on the place like we did at the Vet. I hope they're just as successful."

Ken Mandel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.



this was sad to watch

wow that must have been

Ugh. I remember going to the Phillies parade when they won the 1980 World Series. Gonna miss Veterans Stadium. Lots of memories.