The RCA Dome Implosion

April 29, 2025

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2009 issue of DEMOLITION magazine.

After dominating the Indianapolis skyline for nearly 23 years, the RCA Dome met its demise in spectacular fashion on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008.

In less than 20 seconds, approximately 600 pounds of explosives, strategically placed in over 900 locations on four levels of the structure, were detonated to coerce the old stadium to fall in on itself, away from the Indiana Convention Center (ICC) into manageable, well-fractured piles of debris.

The demolition was solicited for contract by the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority (ISCBA) and managed by Shiel Sexton Construction of Indianapolis. The actual work was performed by Sabre Demolition Corporation (SDC) of Warners, New York, with the assistance of NDA member Controlled Demolition Inc. of Phoenix, Maryland, who acted as specialty explosives subcontractor. The Dixon and Loizeaux families have been teaming on implosion projects since 1995.

Preparation for the implosion was a year-long process. With the assistance of the Sabre management team, labor forces systematically removed individual mementos for public sale or donation; other elements were salvaged for transfer to the new stadium; and a limited amount of environmental remediation had to be performed by subcontractors before demolition could begin. Sabre deflated the dome roof in September and demolished low-rise interior sections of the structure in the months leading to the implosion. Concurrently, CDI drilled and prepared high-rise sections of the stadium for subsequent explosives placement.

The demolition posed several exceptional challenges for SDC and CDI management:

• Proximity of adjacent structures, below-grade utilities and critical services raised questions about the impact which vibration and air overpressure generated by CDI’s operations would have on the local community. CDI and its independent geotechnical consultant used decades of CDI’s historic data on hundreds of similar projects to estimate the likely vibration displacement (peak particle velocity) and frequency of vibration on the existing soil strata beneath the stadium to protect the amount and type of vibration which the implosion would generate. This data, along with estimates of likely air overpressure from the detonation of explosives was used to predict the impact of the implosion on the community and facilities adjacent to and beneath the RCA Dome site.
• Turn of the century brick arch sewers crisscrossed the stadium footprint just 10 feet below the playing field surface. These combination  storm and sanitary sewers drained 25% of the city of Indianapolis and interruption of flow would have been catastrophic with insurance claims in the millions of dollars. CDI designed a protective grid which Sabre equipment operators placed above the sewers where they passed under and within the fall area of the high-rise sections of the structure. Monitoring of flow both before and following the implosion indicated no damage to the sewers or interruption of these vital systems.
• The CSX Railroad main line carried up to 48 trains per day and passed within 62 feet of the 140-foot-tall press box addition to the RCA Dome’s southern exposure. CDI arranged for pre- and post-implosion surveys of the CSX line and the three bridges carrying same adjacent to the site. Careful attention to the explosives initiation sequence and installation of over 1,000 feet of steel core cable between the press box and stadium allowed CDI to fell the press box without damage to CSX property. Site specific CSX track ballast and rail tie protection protocol was installed by SDC personnel prior to the implosion and removed immediately following the event without interruption. Trains were running within two hours following the RCA Dome implosion, well ahead of the CSX schedule for restoration of service.
• The Crowne Plaza Hotel and Resort, part of Indianapolis’ historic Union Rail Station, was as close as 70 feet to part of the structure. CDI designed and implemented a Community Outreach Program with Crowne Plaza and more than a dozen other major hotels and other third-party properties, starting months before the actual implosion to ensure clarity of communication with the adjacent owners and minimal impact of the implosion on day-to-day operations of those facilities. Businesses within the implosion perimeter were individually protected by SDC forces utilizing an assortment of support materials, dust protection measures installation and the covering of all glass surfaces.
• The ICC looked forward to the removal of the RCA Dome to permit expansion of their complex to attract even more national convention venues to their facility for the benefit of the Indianapolis economy. The ICC facilities to remain were present on the west and north sides of the RCA Dome, with the closest exposure less than 16 feet away at ground level on the west side. The concourse levels between the RCA Dome and ICC were pre-demolished by SDC employees utilizing hand-separation techniques and conventional demolition methods to physically separate the dome from the adjacent structure to remain. The upper cantilevered section of the RCA Dome actually overhung the ICC to the west, which was one of the reasons this adjacent property owner strongly supported the implosion of the RCA Dome. SDC and CDI systematically removed the components of this 50-foot-high overhang without incident.
• For reasons of third-party risk management, it was preferable to the ICC to have a single implosion event when the ICC was empty of patrons rather than have ongoing dismantling operations occurring during everyday Convention Center events. The decision paid off and the annual International Automobile Show opened just 24 hours following the RCA Dome implosion.

The implosion was originally to take place in July 2008, but delays in the completion of the new Indianapolis Colts’ home, Lucas Oil Stadium, resulted in the Colts not releasing the RCA Dome for demolition for several months. SDC and CDI were able to use the advantages of an implosion approach to make up more than 50% of the lost time in starting construction of the new ICC convention complex due to the late release of the structure for demolition, a delay reduction that could never have been achieved had CDI’s implosion methods not been used. With a management team of proven professionals, SDC and CDI orchestrated a flawless approach to a very difficult structural demolition scenario and schedule.