Wrecking balls will bring down RCA Dome

INDIANAPOLIS – The RCA Dome will come down by wrecking ball rather than explosives.\nA state board on Monday detailed demolition plans for the 24-year-old stadium as part of the nearly $1 billion project to build the new Lucas Oil Stadium and expand the Indiana Convention Center.\nRemoval of the RCA Dome’s exterior utility lines will begin in January, with demolition expected to start next spring on the home of the Indianapolis Colts, which are to begin playing in the new 63,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium next season.\nThe timing and method for the demolition is based on not disrupting events at the adjoining convention center, said David Frick, chairman of the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority.\n“That is the economic engine of this whole $1 billion project in which we’re engaged, and we don’t want to disrupt it at all,” Frick said.\nThe demolition, which is expected to last about five months, will move from north to south so construction can begin on the three-story convention center expansion, projected to cost $275 million.\nTom Scheele, senior vice president of Shiel Sexton Co. Inc., said conventional demolition was the best way to bring down the RCA Dome because of how close it is to the convention center and other buildings in the city’s downtown.\nWork to remove the stadium’s fabric roof is expected to be done next spring and summer, with removal of its seating bowl to follow, Scheele said.\n“Once about two-thirds of the demolition is complete, you will see new construction and Dome demolition going on concurrently,” Scheele said.\nThe convention center construction is expected to be finished by fall 2010.