I'm obviously not "some people".
Because I happen to think it's a swell idea to wake up at 4:15AM and get dressed, then hop in my chilly car for a nighttime journey to New Haven. To shoot video of the New Haven Coliseum implosion. In January.
Before dawn.
Yes, it's obvious that I was dropped on my head as a toddler.
I've loved the New Haven Veteran's Memorial Coliseum since I was a teenager in the '70's...when I've spent many an evening there watching a Steve Miller concert, or Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Queen, Foghat, or Jethro Tull. I even saw Abba.
Hey, it was the '70's...we didn't have the musical choices that the kids have today.
So it was a bit sad and nostalgic to see the ol' coliseum come to its end early this morning.
And yet, when I consider the awesome rock shows I've seen there; Ozzy both with and without Black Sabbath; Aerosmith; Stone Temple Pilots; and many, many more...I think, maybe this WAS a fitting end.
It's always better to go out with a BANG than a whimper.
14 comments:
WOW, aren't you glad you don't have to worry about taking that trash out! (Damn, I can't believe I went there!!!!!)
Seriously, all that grumbling about waking up and being at the site at an ungodly time must have been worth watching that huge Coliseum implode! With all that dust flying all over the place, please tell me you were at least covering your face with a scarf?
"I even saw Abba"
Uh, don't tell anyone, but I still listen to Abba from time to time (though I will only admit it anonymously).
Thanks for posting that!
Love,
STTTGUIT
(student too tired to get up in time)
Pretty fucking awesome! It will be weird to off I-95 into New Haven and not see it anymore.
Yeah it makes me sad actually about the colliseum. Why do people get so gleeful about demolition? I love every aspect of N.H.'s past, shoddy traintracks, factory buildings, you name it. People have called me weird for that.
An important aside: Bob, do we know where Chrs Murphy stands on Bush's escalation. He hasn't come out publicly has he? He should. Any way to find out???
Mui, I know Murphy is against Bush/Lieberman's "surge", so my guess is he's waiting for the right moment to make a public statement with the most impact. That's what I feel he's doing.
And yeah, New Haven is a great old city; I'd hate to see them get rid of every obsolete structure for the sake of progress.
Non-LieberTroll Anonymous, your secret is safe with me!
Harriet, luckily the wind was blowing from my direction, so the dust drifted back towards the Coliseum and away from us.
It was a really big crowd on the Temple St. garage, probably several thousand. On the roof level they had a band and free coffee and donuts, but I had a better view with my friends John & Celeste from the level below; they grabbed a spot in front of a parked Nissan Sentra; the rail on the roof was cordoned off for the VIPs and
wrecking crew's families.
I just woke up from a 3 hour nap, and I feel almost human again. I'm not used to these hours.
its about time they got rid of that disaster, now implode the rest of the city, start from scratch.
I moved to West Haven to begin my after-college life from Syracuse in June of 1979. That summer, at their peak, the BeeGees were at the Coliseum, and I got tickets and my friends from Syracuse came to see them. They decided that getting BeeGees tickets and living in an apartment a block from the beach (and Jimmie's) that I had made a good choice moving to CT.
I must say, I agree. Great job, Bob! Good thing you were a level below all the VIPs so your public wouldn't disturb you this morning. ;-)
~
I saw the Who and the Grateful Dead there, back between 1977 and 1981.
But it was one heck of an ugly structure! The entire concept of putting your parking up in the air for people to look at is questionable...there's plenty more where that came from in New Haven.
4:15AM. Before dawn
No offense to your gender, but that is very much a guy thing. Women don't get up that early to watch stuff blow up.
That was a pretty old buiding, i hope there wasn't a ton of asbestos in there, or if there was i hope it was carted out safely.
I'm all parenoid about this kind of stuff, I used to work in the "scariest building in NYC"..
Hi Bob,
That sure looks like some other building-falling-down footage I have seen.
HotFlash
Oh yeah, Bob, the wind was blowing away from you, but not from me over on Union St. across from the railroad tracks! We watched the implosion, cheered, then realized the cloud was coming our way and ran like hell. There were bits of insulation floating in the air like cotton candy. Surreal.
The nice part about living IN the city? I got up at 7 and got a prime spot to watch. Ha. It was worth it to watch the old girl go down, and I live so close to the Coliseum that there is NO WAY I would have slept through that noise. Glad I didn't even try.
Oh, and I'll see your Abba and raise you a Shaun Cassidy. I was eleven. Sue me.
Bob, Chris Murphy already missed the "right time." He's been considered derelict.
its about time they got rid of that disaster, now implode the rest of the city, start from scratch.
That's offensive. Yes, & let's let Yale that corporate entity buy all the property, not pay taxes, & rent out to soulless corporate chain stores. If the so-called renaissance resembles Broadway area with Daily Cafe gone etc. etc., I don't want it. It's pure ugly consumer culture. I don't care so much about the Colliseum, but the old industrial and victorian stuff is an important part of the character of the city. What's more Yale has this nasty habit of contributing to the ghettoization of New Haven locals with the removal of popular hang out spots like the Daily Cafe. They don't want anyone in "their" downtown area except those who will go shopping at Origins. It's pathetic. Sometimes so-called progress is actually a step backwards.
Oh yes, & while we're at it, I wonder if those downtown alderpeople succeeded in removing that soup kitchen. "It's soo unslightly and the people there. " Never mind the fact that I heard some of "those people" would actually eat breakfast there so they could do some day job at at that most generous institution called Yale.
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