Roof falls at the Spectrum

When demolition began at the Spectrum Nov. 23 - accompanied by a recording of Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrecking Ball" - there wasn't much to see.

The ball took several swings, as hundreds watched, to knock even a few bricks loose. The first lurch towards the venue's destruction was ceremonial and as damaging as a bottle of champagne hurled against the prow of a battleship.

The Spectrum, which opened in 1967, holds many memories for local sports fans as well as popular music lovers. A new entertainment complex will replace it.

Monday morning, with all of the arena's interior gone, all that was standing was the skeletal frame of the venue and its roof.

At midafternoon a drill mounted on a hydraulic arm delivered strategically placed love taps to one of the supports. It started slowly. A crack was followed by a puff of concrete dust. As if in slow motion, the pillar yielded. The roof groaned, crumpled leisurely, gathered momentum, then caved in suddenly unleasing a tsunami of grey powder that enveloped the structure in a cloud.

Seconds later, the roof was on ground level. The Spectrum was one step closer to being erased from South Philadelphia.