Tuesday, November 23rd will officially mark the end of the 43-year-old arena which was once home to the Flyers and Sixers up until the opening of, what now is the Wells Fargo Center, in 1996. "America's Showplace" came at a cost of $7 million back when being built from 1966-67. Unlike Veterans Stadium, the Spectrum will be demolished, not imploded. A couple weeks back people stood in line outside the arena, paid a $25 fee to enter, and got to leave with whatever they could carry with their hands with no reentry. With state of the art buildings like the Wells Fargo Center, Citizens Bank Park, and Lincoln Financial Field towering over in South Philadelphia, the once celebrated Spectrum will meet with a wrecking ball at noon to make room for a new kind of entertainment venue.
Once the debris is cleared and the hole in the ground filled, construction for Philly Live! will be begin. Philly Live! plans to be full with retail shops, restaurants, a hotel, and a place for fans to come together while being a part of the game without actually being at the game. Although the Spectrum still stands as I write this,
Philly Live! has hit a speed bump. The once 350,000-square-foot entertainment mecca has shrunk to 40,000 to 45,000 square feet overnight and just include a bar full of Philadelphia sports memorabilia, for now. The main cause for this modification, which I'm sure is no surprise to anyone, is the downward spiral the economy took since the plan was first announced in 2008. With completion set around 2012, who knows what another two years will hold for this project. Nevertheless, Philadelphia's sports complex has already been revived from what was a cluster of rundown warehouses to one of the countries single most premier sporting centers in just a decade and a half.
1 comment:
I have a lot of great memories of the Spectrum! Justin, you do know I'm from South Philly?!?!?
HA HA!
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