Wachovia Spectrum to be demolished

The 76ers' Erving helped revolutionize basketball with the signature slam dunks that ignited Spectrum fans. Bobby Knight's Indiana teams won both NCAA men's Final Fours contested in the facility, in 1976 and 1981. And it was at the Spectrum in 1992 where Duke's Christian Laettner beat Kentucky, 104-103, in overtime with a last-second shot in a memorable 1992 NCAA East Regional Final.

"The Spectrum was different from arenas now," said Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks, who starred for the team there. "It was packed in, smaller, tighter. There were none of those boxes, people were all up on you, and that's what we got used to. You could familiarize yourself with the people. I remember one guy, Stevie, he sat right across from the bench. He still comes to the games at the Wachovia Center."

The building, especially in its first decade, also was the site for many top-flight boxing bouts. Frazier, Roberto Duran, Matthew Saad Muhammad and Marvelous Marvin Hagler fought there. By the 1980s, however, the local fight scene had shifted to Atlantic City, after gambling was approved there.

Curiously, the Spectrum's most famous bout took place 3,000 miles away. The arena was the setting for the Rocky Balboa-Apollo Creed heavyweight title bout in the 1976 Academy Award-winning film Rocky. That fight, however, actually was filmed at the Los Angeles Sports Coliseum.

Nonetheless, a statue of the fictional Rocky stood outside the Spectrum for many years before finding a permanent home near the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Spectrum also hosted wrestling, circuses, ice shows and concerts. Entertainers from Frank Sinatra to Elvis Presley to Billy Joel to Springsteen performed there. The Grateful Dead alone played the Spectrum 53 times.

Built for $12 million as a home for the NHL-expansion Flyers and the 76ers, who had been playing at Depression-era Convention Hall, the Spectrum hosted a jazz festival and an ice show to benefit the Rotary Club in the days before its official opening.

But it was a heavyweight fight between the undefeated Frazier, a Philadelphian, and Tony Doyle that christened the arena on Oct. 17, 1967. (Frazier won in two rounds.)

The 76ers, then the defending NBA champions, played their first Spectrum date a night later, Oct. 18. The brand-new Flyers made their debut Oct. 19.

On his first visit, legendary sports columnist Red Smith characterized the new arena as an "elliptical hat box" and "a $12 million center of the perspiring arts." Others said it resembled a "sardine can."

Still, the modern facility, well-lit and with broad corridors and concession stands that were plentiful and accessible, moved the city into the modern-sports era, became the foundation for Snider's sports empire, and was beloved by Philadelphians.

Its predecessors, Convention Hall and the Arena at 46th and Market Streets, were dark and dour symbols of the black-and-white age when they were built.

Until its opening, there hadn't been a major professional sports facility constructed in the city since 1931, when Convention Hall was finished.

Its demolition, just five years after its contemporary, Veterans Stadium, was imploded, will leave the Wachovia Center, opened in 1996, as the city's oldest professional sports venue.

Franklin Field and the Palestra, on the University of Pennsylvania's campus, are both considerably older.

Perhaps the Spectrum's most infamous moment occurred in 1968, just six months into its long run, when gusty winds tore large holes in its roof. Without a home for a month, the Flyers played home games in New York, Toronto and Quebec City.

The Spectrum's future has been in doubt since January, when Snider revealed plans for Philly Live!

Verna, whose support will be critical for getting the project's zoning changes through City Council, suggested the project could be an economic boon to her district.