The Kingdome

Although the Space Needle remains one of the most important landmarks in the Seattle area, The Kingdome was quite recognizable as well, and as long as the stadium was still standing, it was quite the local attraction! Like many older stadium facilities, The Kingdome eventually became obsolete and ran its course. However, we still have some amazing memories and enviable history, with some legendary games and concerts, some of which captured on film to be remembered forever. The stadium's name is a portmanteau of the words “Kingdom” and “Dome,” creating a pun based on the characteristic dome-shaped figure of the venue.

The Kingdome was a football and baseball venue in Seattle, Washington. Also known as King County Multipurpose Domed Stadium, this particular venue has a very distinctive exterior, notable due to its dome-like top and wavy side curves, which are often considered a true visual landmark. This stadium is located in the city of Seattle, Washington. Up until it was finally demolished by way of implosion, the stadium was operated by King County, and it served as the home turf for local legends Seattle Seahawks, one of the most popular NFL teams. It is also the home stadium for the Mariners, Seattle’s own major league baseball team, and one of the best in the league. The roots of The Kingdome date back to the late 50s, but because of some political disagreement on a local level concerning the construction of the stadium, works only began in 1972. The stadium finally opened a few years later, in 1976. Interestingly, The Kingdome had a rather large exterior, but the actual field was relatively small for a stadium of that size, so much so that it was quite known as a hitter’s park, with iconic players such as Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey, and Jay Buhner managed to stand out with their iconic performances at that particular stadium.

Throughout the years, the King County Multipurpose Domed Stadium grew to become what is perhaps the most famous sporting venue in the Seattle area, and it hosted many important events, not only in terms of football and baseball but also in soccer and more. Although The Kingdome served mainly as a stadium for major league teams and professional events, it also hosted some college games starting from the mid-1970s. Throughout the 80s, even University teams started to play games at The Kingdome. However, with competition from the newer facility known as Tacoma Dome, attendance for those games started to fade.

While this stadium has a very reverberant sound due to its unique structure, it has been used as the venue for several major concerts, including the first-ever rock show at this stadium, which happened to be Paul McCartney and Wings. This tour was also particularly important because it was Paul McCartney’s first run of shows since the days of The Beatles. The performance at The Kingdome is now available on video, as it was filmed for the concert movie “Rockshow” - Other major artists played at The Kingdome, including Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, U2, and Van Halen. The Kingdome was eventually closed and demolished in 2000. The stadium was demolished by an implosion, earning a Guinness World Record for being the largest building to be demolished that way. Implosion is the most effective and widespread solution to demolish most large-scale facilities such as stadiums, but in this case, this happened to be a truly extraordinary process, given the large scale of The Kingdome. As they say, it came in with a splash, and it went out with a bang!