Tuesday, July 15, 2008

BUT, OKAY, THAT UPPER LEVEL? NO GOOD: In a move long expected but nevertheless a sign that we're all aging, Ed Snider announced this morning that the Philadelphia Spectrum will be demolished at the conclusion of the 2008-09 minor league hockey and indoor lacrosse seasons to clear room for a "new retail-and-entertainment complex that could include a hotel, restaurants, bars, stores and more."

Completed in 1967 to accomodate Snider's new NHL franchise, the building hosted 10 NBA or NHL championship series before the teams moved across the parking lot to the new building in 1996; countless Grateful Dead, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen concerts; The Laettner Shot and, oh yes, Dr. J's dunk On Michael Cooper.

An official Remember the Spectrum website has video of Snider reminiscing and, more interestingly, a calendar of events held there. (It's not quite complete -- the announced two-days-before-it-happened G n'R show I attended in June 1991 before Use Your Illusion came out is missing.)

Yeah, it was kind of a dump, but it was our dump. The dump where I saw the Blonde Ambition tour from the lower level with a ticket bought on the street for $20, the Graceland tour and Dr. J's last regular season home game. Sigh.

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