The New Haven Register, Randall Beach, Register Staff 10/01/2005

NEW HAVEN — Those New Haven Coliseum implosion parties will likely now coincide with holiday parties in December, according to city officials.

Although officials from the Stamford Wrecking Co., the contractor for the massive demolition project, initially said the implosion might happen in September, the interior environmental cleanup is not nearly completed.

In addition, the conventional takedown of other parts of the Coliseum must precede the implosion.

That phase of the demolition will not begin for another two or three weeks and requires up to a month-and-a-half of work, said the city’s project manager William MacMullen.

"By the end of November or mid-December, all that should be left standing is the concrete pylons and the parking garage," MacMullen said. "You’ll be able to see right through the building."

The garage and pylons would be the parts that are imploded, at dawn on a Sunday. The off-hour time is necessary because engineers don’t want traffic and pedestrians in the area.

When told that Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are on Sundays, MacMullen said those would not be probable implosion dates because the crews would be entitled to have those days off.

MacMullen said it would have been better not to have made initial implosion date estimates. He recalls hearing a Stamford Wrecking official talk about a September date.

"You only do this once," MacMullen said. "I don’t care how long it takes to set it up, as long as it’s done right."

But Tony Bialecki, the city’s deputy development administrator, said if the project stretches into a specified date next spring, the city has the right by contract to start imposing daily penalties on the contractor. He said Stamford Wrecking officials don’t see that happening.

Nevertheless, Bialecki noted that even after the implosion, which will take just 18.5 seconds, the contractor will need at least another two months to clear the site of debris.

For now, the demolition crew is working inside the Coliseum, removing asbestos and other hazardous materials, including glycol, which was used to make the ice for hockey teams. MacMullen said there was twice as much glycol as expected.

The city bonded $6 million to tear down the Coliseum and the state is paying for demolition of the old Macy’s building, which will also cost about $6 million, according to Bialecki.

The Macy’s demolition cost is part of the $140 million allocated by the state to design and build a new Gateway Community College near the Coliseum site.

Stamford Wrecking workers are also now inside the Macy’s building, doing months of environmental clean-up that will probably take the rest of the year, Bialecki said.

Early next year, he added, the workers should be ready to start razing that building.

Meanwhile, city officials are still trying to figure out whether or not they can give away several hundred of the Coliseum’s seats.

MacMullen said it would cost $15,000-$18,000 in city money to pry up the seats.

Bialecki said he has asked the contractor to do this at no cost, as a favor to the community. He said another option is having city workers do the seat job.

After he determines how difficult it will be to take out the seats and whether they can be separated into singles or have to stay in rows, Bialecki will announce details on any giveaway.

Already, people are calling to ask about those seats. Ken Bologna of Woodbury, a former Milford resident who logged many hours watching hockey games at the Coliseum, is eager to hear details about free seats.

"When my wife and I heard the city was thinking about doing this, she said, ‘Hey, that would look great in your sports room!’" he noted.

Bologna said the seat or seats would be "a good conversation piece."