Final round: Event-filled site falls gracefully
This story was originally published in the August 3, 1997 edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The biggest explosion in Atlanta since a Confederate ammunition train was blown up toppled the old home of the Braves on Saturday.
In less than half a minute, 1,600 pounds of explosives crumbled the 32-year-old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium into a pile of rubble and twisted steel beams.
"It was a successful shot; we're very pleased, " said David H. Griffin Jr., vice president of D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co., after surveying the carcass of the demolished structure.
Now begins the process of hauling off 10,000 tons of tangled steel, which will be recycled at a local scrap yard, and crushing the 35,000 cubic yards of concrete that will remain to build a parking lot on the stadium site.
Before the implosion, all the stadium seats had been sold and the interior of the building was gutted.
The Braves, who had a spectacular run during the stadium's final six years, said their goodbyes last September during the last game of regular season. Phil Niekro, Dale Murphy and the sliding Sid Bream were all there. Hammerin' Hank Aaron had walked over home plate to the new Turner Field in a star-studded ceremony on opening night this spring.
A monument will mark the spot where Aaron's historic 715th home run landed, and a stretch of the retaining wall the ball sailed over will stand as a landmark to the Braves' home during their first quarter century in Atlanta.
Although best known as the Braves' stadium, it was more than that. The Atlanta Falcons debuted there in 1966 and used it as their home field for 26 years. The Atlanta Crackers, the Beatles and Billy Graham took center stage through the years in the circular tub.
But now it has given way, like so many other Atlanta landmarks, to progress. "It's a bittersweet moment, " Mayor Bill Campbell said after helping to detonate the blasts that brought the stadium down. "There's a lot of history, a lot of memories there. But now we are beginning the process of rebuilding the community."
Indeed, it was a big week for leveling landmarks. The Omni was imploded the previous Saturday to make way for a basketball and hockey arena. "The Dome is next week, " joked Stan Kasten, president of the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks, the basketball team that played in the Omni.
He watched Saturday's implosion from the upper decks at Turner Field with Olympic officials A.D. Frazier Jr. and Patrick Glisson. Together they negotiated the deal, along with city and county officials, to build the $ $240 million Turner Field. Kasten calls it just "a new and improved" version of the Braves stadium."They were torturous negotiations, " recalled Glisson, who as chief financial officer is closing the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games' books. Once the demolition is complete in October and the parking lot built, his seven-year job is done. "It's been like you were carrying around a rock in your stomach. That will be removed once t this comes down."
