44 Years Ago Today...

[Waquoit]

It looked like a massive fist came from the sky and punched the roof.

 

[Ewekon]

The Civic Center roof collapsed. Any Yarders at the UMass game 6 hours earlier?

There we go datin' ourselves again. Remember it well.

 

[TRUCONN76]

Nah, the big one for New England was a few weeks later.

HCC roof collapsed after catching tail end of blizzard through Ohio and PA.

Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978 - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

I left work at 1:00PM in New Haven and was the last to leave who made it home. By the time I neared my home nearly 3 hours later, usually a 20 min ride, it was total whiteout conditions. I went past a telephone pole that looked familiar made a guess as to where my street was and thru some luck managed to get home.

 

[Ha Who]

Springfield, I remember my dad driving us up there to the games.

I remember studying the collapse at UConn years later. If I were to call correctly it was largely due to the fact that they used center drains for the water and a freeze thaw cycle cause the drains to be covered in. Wet snow became too big a load for the roof to bear. Hindsight being what it is, it seems like a pretty glaring error.

I think it was called the I-91 club

The Hartford Whalers: Connecticut’s Last Major League Sports Franchise - Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project

Major league hockey debuted in Hartford in 1975 and the Hartford Whalers remained a staple of the Connecticut landscape for twenty-three years.

connecticuthistory.org

 

[John]

Springfield, I remember my dad driving us up there to the games.

I remember studying the collapse at UConn years later. If I were to call correctly it was largely due to the fact that they used center drains for the water and a freeze thaw cycle cause the drains to be covered in. Wet snow became too big a load for the roof to bear. Hindsight being what it is, it seems like a pretty glaring error.

Hartford Civic Center

Higher than expected deformations may indicate that the structure is overloaded. At approximately 4:15 a.m. on January 17, 1978, the roof of the Hartford Civic Center Arena collapsed. O…

eng-resources.uncc.edu

 

[CL82]

I think it was called the I-91 club

The Hartford Whalers: Connecticut’s Last Major League Sports Franchise - Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project

Major league hockey debuted in Hartford in 1975 and the Hartford Whalers remained a staple of the Connecticut landscape for twenty-three years.

connecticuthistory.org

I remember one time in particular coming home in a snowstorm that was pretty hairy. And I looked over my dad and he seemed perfectly calm negotiating an unplowed 91 and the back roads to get home in a snowstorm. I’ve done the same thing myself, including most recently the last Syracuse game at MSG and I realized that calm exterior is a dad thing.

 

[CL82]

Hartford Civic Center

Higher than expected deformations may indicate that the structure is overloaded. At approximately 4:15 a.m. on January 17, 1978, the roof of the Hartford Civic Center Arena collapsed. O…

eng-resources.uncc.edu

You know I think I’ve read this before, but, wow, what a cacophony of errors from bad design, to poor project management, to the ignoring of fairly obvious warning signs. It seems that the live load was the straw that broke the camels back, but, that failure was inevitable.

 

[seeya27]

I was there -- and returned home to Stratford where I was staying on winter break. My father woke me up at 5 AM (he always went to work ridiculously early) and told me. I remember it took a couple minutes to fully wrap my head around it.

I've always felt the fates gave me a "stay alive one more day" chip. Events like 9/11 and the Miami condo collapse always bring those feelings back.

 

[F101Voodoo]

Now that was a blizzard. I remember it well

No! It was rain after a snow fall. I remember my wife was up doing a late night feeding of our one month old daughter and wife woke me to tell me. WTIC radio back then went off the air at 1:00 AM. They stayed on that night for a few hours longer. It was the now defunct Connecticut Mutual Classic. I worked for a. Another insurance company in Hartford back then in Claims and we spent the morning talking to contacts in underwriting to find out what percentage of the Reinsurance coverage we had. Aetna was primary as I recall and The Travelers had a piece as did we. With big time coverages like civic centers no one insurance company takes on the entire risk. The risk has to be spread out among insurance companies via Reinsurance agreements. Even a large P and C conpamy could get severally damaged financially with sole coverage.

We could actually see the roof from 5 floors up from the floor that I worked on. We ended up having to travel to Springfield to watch the Whalers for a couple 2 years or so.

Us insurance companies were lucky that we did not have BI claims since no one was hurt in the empty arena. Hell the property loss was bad enough.

 

[F101Voodoo]

The Whalers played at the Springfield CC and the games began there within a couple weeks. The fans called themselves the 91 Club I believe. Very lucky to have an arena so nearby that was willing to help out.

Yes, the big insurance company that I worked for ran buses up to Springfield ( mens club sponsored) for a while to help the Whalers out. Price was cheap and included box lunches.

 

[F101Voodoo]

The CT equivalent of saying you caught Hendrix at Woodstock?

Yes I believe so. Funny that I heard that there are 10 times the number of people who claim to have been at Woodstock than there really were. I remember after I returned to college after Vietnam a fellow. Vet claimed to have been at Woodstock the exact times that I was there which included Woodstock. I do not recall the military giving us R&R to Woodstock. SURE, the Air Force said ok we will put you guys on a C 130 and paratroop you over the concert. Yup that really happened. False memory is wonderful thing. LOL,,!,

 

[microfich]

I was asleep when my Mom, up early as usual for her nursing shift, burst into my room just after 4 am to see if I had come home from the game safely. Turned on the tv and gulped. Of all the luck.

Just weeks later I was caught still on I91 just north of New Haven on the way back from my first real job interview in Greenwich that didn't happen because they had closed early due to the latest storm of the century. Low on gas I sat in with a trucker for a couple of hours and then shared the Chips Ahoy I had presciently picked up at the Norwalk toll plaza with a mom and her 3 anxious young kids for another hour. Eventually, 6 1/2 hours later, my 1970 Dodge Dart was freed by a plow using the tactic - plow a few feet, chain up to a car, pull it forward, plow a few feet..." I had a one lane polar express at 20 mph into Hartford at 10 pm and riding on fumes. Incredibly, I came upon a tiny gas station glowing like angel on Albany Avenue in the midst of the storm's fury. I filled up and eventually made it one mile from home before I had to pull over and walk the rest of the way through thigh-deep snow.

Yes, I got the job due in no small part to my infamous experience that told them I'd do anything for that job.
Grew an awful lot that winter.

 

[F101Voodoo]

One problem! The roof collapse was Jan 18 , 78. BLizard Larry was Feb 78.
I know because I spent 3 1/2 hours driving from Hartford to Newington and was at a stand still for a half hour in fron of a store. I asked the guy behind me to move my car a few inches while I was in the store buying baby formula fir my 2 month old daughter. That was before cell phones so I had to use the store phone to call my wife to get the exact type of formula since my daughter was born with lactose intolerance. Roof collapse was before b,Izard Larry not after. Roof collapse was caused by a snow store but most importantly rain on top of the snow which. Add it way too heavy for the type of roof struts.

I was asleep when my Mom, up early as usual for her nursing shift, burst into my room just after 4 am to see if I had come home from the game safely. Turned on the tv and gulped. Of all the luck.

Just weeks later I was caught still on I91 just north of New Haven on the way back from my first real job interview in Greenwich that didn't happen because they had closed early due to the latest storm of the century. Low on gas I sat in with a trucker for a couple of hours and then shared the Chips Ahoy I had presciently picked up at the Norwalk toll plaza with a mom and her 3 anxious young kids for another hour. Eventually, 6 1/2 hours later, my 1970 Dodge Dart was freed by a plow using the tactic - plow a few feet, chain up to a car, pull it forward, plow a few feet..." I had a one lane polar express at 20 mph into Hartford at 10 pm and riding on fumes. Incredibly, I came upon a tiny gas station glowing like angel on Albany Avenue in the midst of the storm's fury. I filled up and eventually made it one mile from home before I had to pull over and walk the rest of the way through thigh-deep snow.

Yes, I got the job due in no small part to my infamous experience that told them I'd do anything for that job.
Grew an awful lot that winter.

Sorry I miss read your post. I thought that you were blaming Blizrad Larry on the roof collapse. I extend my sincere apppologies.

 

[F101Voodoo]

You know I think I’ve read this before, but, wow, what a cacophony of errors from bad design, to poor project management, to the ignoring of fairly obvious warning signs. It seems that the live load was the straw that broke the camels back, but, that failure was inevitable.

The design failed to include the weight and stress caused by rain falling soon after a significant snow storm which we get here in Southern New England,

 

[Chin Diesel]

Yes I believe so. Funny that I heard that there are 10 times the number of people who claim to have been at Woodstock than there really were. I remember after I returned to college after Vietnam a fellow. Vet claimed to have been at Woodstock the exact times that I was there which included Woodstock. I do not recall the military giving us R&R to Woodstock. SURE, the Air Force said ok we will put you guys on a C 130 and paratroop you over the concert. Yup that really happened. False memory is wonderful thing. LOL,,!,

Same with Wilt scoring 100 at Hershey. Actual attendance was 4k but it seemed like 100k remember beign there.

 

[F101Voodoo]

There we go datin' ourselves again. Remember it well.

I did not realize how many of us oldies are on this site. Wow we are all grads from the venerable olde Yankee conference and fans of Wes Baleksukiniya. My shpelling shucks.

 

[CL82]

The design failed to include the weight and stress caused by rain falling soon after a significant snow storm which we get here in Southern New England,

That has always been my recollection, but if you read the article that was linked in the post that I replied to it shows that there were very significant problems even without the additional weight of the rain and snow.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Wow, so many of my contemporaries on this board. I was at trinity when it collapsed and went up to Springfield to watch a couple games. Got to see one of the greatest lines ever when Bobby Hull, Wayne Gretzky and Ulf Nilsson came to town. Boy they could fly.

 

[F101Voodoo]

Wow, so many of my contemporaries on this board. I was at trinity when it collapsed and went up to Springfield to watch a couple games. Got to see one of the greatest lines ever when Bobby Hull, Wayne Gretzky and Ulf Nilsson came to town. Boy they could fly.

I lived near Trinity when we first came to America. Used to sneak into FB games through the black iron fence. Once my parents realized that the only way to become really good Americans was to first get a single family home in the city then escape into the Burbs and away from the rising crime hole that Hartford became after the riots of the 1960’s.

 

[Waquoit]

I might have seen the ultimate Whaler game in Spfld. Young Gretzky had 4 assists for Edmonton yet the Whale still won 5-4.

 

[F101Voodoo]

I might have seen the ultimate Whaler game in Spfld. Young Gretzky had 4 assists for Edmonton yet the Whale still won 5-4.

Wow! I was a casual hockey fan s but I had to learn quickly after we found out we had family in Canukhistan. My cousins do not like me joking that they live in Canukhistan. I kept forgetting to bring them sense of humor pills and teaching them that it is ok for them to root for their Blue Jays. There are other sports not just hockey.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

That was pre Big East
Attendance in the mid 80’s as the Big East caught on improved dramatically even in the Perno years. National names coming to Ct was a big deal.
That event did have a positive effect on my crew and I attending games.
We started going to games in New Haven and got hooked on live games then followed them back to Hartford. I still have a program signed by Karl Hobbs.
The original AzHuskie among other handles was 9 when I took him to his first game ( 1980) he posts a lot on recruiting.
Previously it was George Erlich on radio or a rare TV game on channel 8. I think Dick Galiette did the games. Nothing like bringing a kid to a live game to create a fan.
I listened to the game earlier that night .

 

[Ha Who]

I remember one time in particular coming home in a snowstorm that was pretty hairy. And I looked over my dad and he seemed perfectly calm negotiating an unplowed 91 and the back roads to get home in a snowstorm. I’ve done the same thing myself, including most recently the last Syracuse game at MSG and I realized that calm exterior is a dad thing.

Got to pull my old line out. Scott Haney is predicting flurries, so I can’t drive to the game tonight

 

[HooperScooper]

I lived near Trinity when we first came to America. Used to sneak into FB games through the black iron fence. Once my parents realized that the only way to become really good Americans was to first get a single family home in the city then escape into the Burbs and away from the rising crime hole that Hartford became after the riots of the 1960’s.

They charged money to attend D3 NESCAC football games back then? They don't now.

 

[F101Voodoo]

They charged money to attend D3 NESCAC football games back then? They don't now.

After a few illegal entries the admin people began to look the other, literally as we made believe we were sneaking in. We were kids and any size college was big time to us. Do you remember the hill near the chapel across from the civil war or Rev war cannon? Us local kids used to go sledding there and the administration did not bother us. You remember the cemetery behind and north of the school? My paper route ran along the cemetery road almost to the school. As kids we dared each other to sneak into the cemetery on Halloween and challenge each as to who would go in the furthest. NO WE NEVER EVER TOPPLED TOOMB. STONES. Us children of the late fifties / early sixties were mischievous but not criminal.