THE DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS SKYLINE IS DRAMATICALLY different this afternoon. For the past 24 years a domed football stadium has stood next door to its partner and owner, the Indianapolis Convention Center.
For the first 10 years of its life it was known as the Hoosier Dome. In 1994 the RCA Corp. purchased the naming rights to the stadium and it has since been known as the RCA Dome. Last year a newer, finer and more luxurious stadium opened up across the street from the old dome and planning began for demolishing the old gal.
In June of this year, interior demolishment was underway when this video was made by Channel 8 showing what all was going on out of sight from the public as they began tearing it down:
The structure was architecturally noted for its Teflon-coated fiberglass fabric roof. The huge piece of cloth weight 257 tons and was supported solely by a slightly-increased interior air pressure. The highest point of the roof was approx. 200 ft. over the floor, but it fluctuated constantly by about 5 ft. because of weather and temperature changes.
As patrons entered the building they were greeted with warnings about the wind gusts that greeted them as they went through the doorways. On September 24 the roof was deflated amid a civic ceremony to witness the event and Fox News prepared this time-lapse video recording the 35-minute deflation:
This morning (Saturday) the next big step in the demolition was Firegeezer’s favorite – the Big Ka-Boom when they blew up the rest of the building. WISH-TV Ch. 8 was there:
