Baseball Spotlight: Veterans Stadium Implosion Scheduled For Sunday, March 21 Wednesday, March 3, 2004 By Maryann Gettis Philadelphia Phillies Correspondent Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia's home for sports entertainment from 1971 through 2003, will be imploded at 7 a.m. on Sunday, March 21, the City of Philadelphia and the Phillies announced today. It will take approximately 58 seconds to implode the building. During the past few months, work has been underway with the conventional demolition of Veterans Stadium. Much has been removed from the Vet including concrete ramps, the podium level, lower seating bowl, lights, roofing and the Liberty Bell. By the time March 21 comes around, the Vet will have been reduced to a virtual concrete skeleton. Brandenburg Industrial Service Company is the demolition sub-contractor; Demolition Dynamics Company is their implosion sub-contractor. For the implosion, an area surrounding Veterans Stadium will be off-limits to spectators. The area is bordered by Lawrence Street (east), 18th Street (west), the Schuylkill Expressway (north) and I-95 (south). A demolition command center and VIP/Media area will be set up on the north side of Packer Avenue between Broad Street and 10th Street. More information regarding the implosion will be released within the next two weeks. After the Implosion Following implosion, conventional demolition will resume to break the concrete debris into smaller pieces suitable for landfill. The crushed concrete will amount to about 70,000 cubic yards of material. The hole will require over 400,000 cubic yards to fill and compact back to grade. The balance of the material is soil, currently stored at the Navy Yard, which was removed while building Citizens Bank Park. Adding storm drains, concrete curbs, lights, signs and fences and the laying of asphalt will conclude the project. An additional 5,500 parking spots will exist in the Sports Complex once the demolition process has been completed this fall. When the parking lot has been completed, 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. The four Joe Brown statues that graced the Vet from 1976 to 2003 will be relocated to the perimeter of the new parking lot, two on Pattison Avenue and two on Hartranft Street. A tribute to veterans will also be developed adjacent to the sidewalk on the north side of Pattison Avenue. A considerable landscaping project will also be part of the new parking area as hundreds of trees will be planted.

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