Work to raze the Memorial Stadium began in earnest Monday, but cranes and a wrecking ball won’t tear into the ballpark until next week.
The demolition brings an end to the stadium’s 16-year life along Coliseum Boulevard and the St. Joseph River. The stadium helped bring minor league baseball to Fort Wayne but is no longer needed now that the TinCaps have moved into Parkview Field downtown.
The work began as scheduled and is part of a $1.3 million project that will add parking spaces, construct a small utility building, improve handicap parking and add landscaping to the Memorial Coliseum grounds.
The Coliseum, which contributed $4.3 million to erect the $6.3 million stadium in 1993, is paying for the work. The proceeds from last week’s auction of surplus equipment will go into the arena’s main operating fund, Coliseum General Manager Randy Brown said.
This week, crews will install safety fencing, add a construction entrance, tear out drywall and ceiling tiles and remove anything that could be reused or recycled that wasn’t sold at auction last week.
A week since the auction, the stadium looks dramatically different, Brown said.
The windows from ticket booths, guest services and the field suites are gone. The chain-link fence, doors and even the blue plastic seats have been removed. All were purchased during the auction, Brown said.
Workers were busy Monday pulling drywall and ceiling tiles out revealing ductwork, pipes and ceiling grids that also will be removed. Piles of scrap metal and broken drywall dotted the walk outside the stadium.
A locker room was reduced to cinderblock walls and a debris-strewn carpet. Utilities were shut off, leaving the hallways of the stadium dark.
Other workers were bringing down the light towers or tearing apart a wooden deck. The aluminum bleachers remain – for now.
A demolition permit doesn’t take effect until next week, when a crane and wrecking ball will be brought in.
The concrete pre-cast pieces will be brought down and then crushed on site. Any steel or rebar will be sorted for recycling, said project manager Chuck Jordan with Geiger Excavating.
The crushed concrete can be reused as fill for parking lot and pipe trenches in lieu of crushed limestone, Jay Geige said.
After the demolition begins, it is expected to take two to three weeks, he said.
Brown said he doesn’t expect the demolition to affect traffic on Coliseum Boulevard. And he doesn’t expect the drawn-out project to draw crowds of spectators.
“It won’t be anything too exciting to see,” he said.
Bringing down the stadium shouldn’t affect event parking. And a large security fence will keep the public away from any flying debris and the crane work, Jordan said.
“Its kind of sad to see it go,” he said. “It was a great venue for a lot of years.”
