The Charlotte Coliseum’s Final Performance

August 26, 2024

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2007 issue of DEMOLITION magazine.

Charlotte, North Carolina, is one “hot” city. With its recently announced NASCAR Hall of Fame, U.S. National Whitewater Center, Convention Center Cultural Complex and Center City renaissance, the largest city in the Tar Heel State is giving neighboring Atlanta a run for its money as the heart of the New South.

Charlotte’s new Epicenter downtown development project will bring residential and commercial infrastructure to the city’s core. Its brand-new trolley system rolls through the center of town and leads to the venues used by the NFL Carolina Panthers and NBA Bobcats. Charlotte’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway hosts NASCAR’s NEXTEL Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck series races, some of the hottest stock car racing in the country.

With all this new development, some of the older structures in Charlotte have outlived their usefulness. The Charlotte Coliseum hosted its last performance at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 3, 2007. Thousands of spectators came for the final event: the implosion of the largest indoor basketball arena ever built.

National Demolition Association member CST Environmental Inc., a nationwide demolition and environmental contractor headquartered in Brea, California, made sure the sports fans were going to get the view of a lifetime. Cars started lining up at 8 a.m. to get a good spot for the shot. It was like the old days arriving at the “Hornet’s Nest” at game time when the traffic moved slowly or not at all. Some old Hornets fans showed up in game-day attire. It was truly a family event. Adults, children and even the family pets came out to see the Coliseum’s last hurrah.

CST carefully planned the implosion for three months, and not even tropical storm Barry could stop the final Coliseum performance. At exactly 10:29 a.m., fellow NDA member Dykon Blasting Corp. of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the explosive engineering consultant, connected the detonator.

The warning sounded just like the game buzzer at the end of a Bobcat game, and all eyes were fixed on the arena. Guests in the nearby hotels huddled around their viewing windows to get the best view of the shot. Spectators in the parking lots emerged from their cars into the rain to make sure they got the best of the Coliseum’s end.

Among the VIPs pushing the button were former Charlotte Hornets player and Sting coach, Muggsy Bogues, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, and a former Coliseum usher, Calvin Easter. “Five, four, three, two, one,” roared the crowd. “BOOM.” “BOOM.” “BOOM.” Each blast amazingly loud, like the sound of beating drums leading up to the big event. Windows in the hotels vibrated and the ground in the parking area shook. Fifty-two time delays running concurrently in two successions, a half second apart, blew out the structure’s support beams. The loud booms worked their way, in sequence, from the back concourse dock all the way around the front of the Coliseum and back again. Roof trusses flashed like fireworks. Then the roof gave in, and the walls followed.

Down came the Charlotte Coliseum, home to a thousand local sports and concert memories, in a pile of dust. You could hear the crowds cheer for this last spectacular performance. When the dust faded, you could see the trees on the other side of the arena for the first time since its construction.

All demolition projects bring back old memories and mixed emotions. “It’s a sad day; it really is,” said Muggsy Bogues. “Tears are rolling down my eyes. You can’t see them.” Seven-year-old Jacob Kegley said, “That was super loud and the most amazing thing I have ever seen.”

“Just a phenomenal experience,” said Calvin Easter. “You could feel the thrusts of the bombs and the dynamite. The implosion was phenomenal.” Immediately after the implosion, CST crews performed safety checks at the site and the surrounding businesses while spectators celebrated the end of the Coliseum’s era. “It took two years to build the Charlotte Coliseum and less than 15 seconds for it to become a pile of rubble. Every step has been planned and double-checked over the last three months,” said CST Environmental Inc. demolition vice president Tony Burkhart.

“Each beam was loaded with explosives, we used 550 pounds of explosives, hooked together with fast-burning, powder-filled wire, and then wrapped in rubber sheeting to prevent shrapnel from flying too far. Some of the explosives cut the beams apart, while others “kicked” out the sections that were cut. Then down she came, just as we had planned,” explained Burkhart.

CST Environmental Inc. is a fully licensed, bonded and insured nationwide demolition, abatement and hazardous remediation contractor providing demolition and environmental services for two decades. In addition, CST is a certified Minority Business Enterprise and offers comprehensive demolition services including interior demolition, complete and partial building demolition, and plant dismantling.

CST’s largest project prior to the Charlotte Coliseum was the Old Naval Base in Long Beach, California. That project consisted of over 36 buildings totaling over 1.3 million square feet. The company recycled over 250,000 tons of concrete and asphalt from the facility.

By the completion of the Charlotte Coliseum demolition project, CST will recycle 70,000 tons of material including masonry brick, concrete, and ferrous and nonferrous metals. The brick and masonry will be used as fill for the City Park development project, and the metal will be sent to a recycling facility.

CST will have also recycled 18,000 tons of asphalt from the parking lots. The asphalt will be used as material for The Loop at City Park, a 3-mile trail system. The arena’s 24,000 seats, basketball court and other miscellaneous items were sold or donated by developer Pop and Land to local sports organizations. Even many of the trees and landscape surrounding the Coliseum will also be saved and protected. Over 90% of the material will be recycled.

The first phase of the demolition project took approximately two months. CST demolished the arena floor and seating area. The arena’s floor was an elliptical shape and was approximately 22,000 square feet wide. CST also removed the rear service concourse and the exterior masonry brick in preparation for the implosion on June 3. The company processed all the concrete and masonry brick as fill material on-site. During this phase, CST removed and recycled the majority of ferrous and nonferrous metals.

The second phase of the project was preparation for the implosion. The shot required 550 pounds of explosives. CST prepped the interior beams for Dykon’s linear copper clad shape charges. Each charge was composed of 13 pounds of explosives. Each shape charge was wrapped in a reinforced box with layers of reinforced chain and rubber belting. This reinforcement was necessary to force the energy of the shape charge to cut the steel beam.

The implosion began in the rear of the Coliseum. The shape charges were set on a 5-millisecond time delay to minimize the shock wave. The entire implosion took only 13 seconds.

The third phase of the demolition project is the final clearing of the implosion debris and site grading. This last phase will take approximately four months to complete. Grading will occur in conjunction with the demolition and will take about five months to complete.

CST mobilized initially with salvage crews and small equipment. At the height of demolition, 10 excavators, six truck loaders, seven skid steer loaders, sheers, grapplers, four man-lifts, each 25 feet high, a fleet of hauling trucks and a crew of 40 laborers were required to perform demolition, salvage, implosion preparation, site clearance and mass grading.

Forgotten Facts About the Charlotte Coliseum

• The nickname of the Hornets: Originally to be named the Charlotte Spirit, the team was renamed the Charlotte Hornets after the objection of local fans. During the Revolutionary War, British General Cornwallis remarked about the resistance met in North Carolina. “There’s a rebel behind every bush, it’s a veritable nest of hornets.”
• On the morning the Coliseum was to host its first event, the multimillion-dollar scoreboard crashed to the floor, destroying both it and the basketball court it landed on. An alternate floor was brought from the Cricket Arena in time for game night.

What Made the Charlotte Coliseum Project Unique?

• This was a perfect implosion from a visual point of view. Given that site was on over 170 acres of open space, it was a great opportunity for the public to view the implosion live.
• There are no hazardous materials on the project, as the facility was built after 1970.
• The Charlotte Coliseum had a unique spatial truss system. Many imploded structures are concrete frame construction.
• The most unique features of the Charlotte Coliseum was the lack of expansion joints in the roof system. The Coliseum had one of the largest single span roof systems of approximately 375 feet. The roof was supported around its perimeter by A-frame columns that were designed to pivot to allow movement. These A-frames were located in the plane of the exterior wall and were designed to carry all lateral load experienced by the structure. The spatial truss system helped bring the Coliseum down by placing shape charges around the support system.
• Approximately 80% of the Coliseum will still be on the 170-acre site upon completion of the project by means of CST’s on-site recycling efforts. More than 90% of the material will ultimately be recycled.
• The Charlotte Coliseum was the largest basketball arena ever built.