Delighted 40th birthday to the Tacoma Dome (or is it DomaTacoma?).

The Tacoma Dome is marking its 40th birthday, but some individuals still want the center had actually been called "DomaTacoma" instead. (Thanks To the Tacoma Dome).

( Courtesy of the Tacoma Dome).



BY FELIKS BANEL.

Reporting live from Seattle's past.

The Tacoma Dome is commemorating its 40th birthday this weekend with all kinds of enjoyable and free activities, however the official choice of that now family name goes back a bit additional. And there was at least one novelty tune associated with the process.

We take the name "Tacoma Dome" for given, but like all huge civic infrastructure tasks, there were other names along the method in the decade approximately of serious activity before the facility opened to the public on April 21, 1983.

It's easy to forget that Tacoma's job was a gleam in the eye of local coordinators long prior to the Kingdome opened in 1976. Spurred on by a condition known as multipurpose envy, the speed picked up in the late 1970s, and Tacoma citizens were asked to authorize a bond procedure in March 1980.

At that point, there was no main name for what was being commemorated this weekend, however there were a handful of names currently in use by some of the officials and official entities working to get it constructed.

Tacoma Dome Aliases:

T-PC Minidome Committee.

" T-PC" as in Tacoma-Pierce County; "Minidome" as in, well, "little dome" or "little dome" (or, other words, smaller sized than the Kingdome. Sorry to rub that in.).

A Dome of Our Own.

More of a slogan or call to action than a name, but a downhome and relaxing sensation-- though tinged with that ever-present envy or contrast.

Tacoma's dome.

Simple and possessive; this is not Seattle's dome, individuals.

Tacoma's domed sports and convention center.

Very main and possessive sounding, it does not sound like someplace you 'd go see David Bowie or The Police (who both played huge programs there in the inaugural year of 1983.).

Even without a main name, the $28 million bond measure passed, and so then, in May 1981, as the Tacoma City Council struggled to make a main pick for a name, they requested the general public to mail in their concepts. And, unlike our current elections procedure, there was no pre-addressed envelope, and the postage was certainly not covered by the taxpayers.

As you may anticipate, even years before the age of "Boaty McBoat Face," there were lots of tongue-in-cheek suggestions for Tacoma's imminent pride and pleasure.

Bingdome.

Since he was born there, somebody recommended the Bing Crosby Dome-- or Bingdome for brief. Sublimely hilarious.

Sounddome For Puget Sound.

Naturally (which was named in 1792 by Captain George Vancouver for Peter Puget).

Prince Dome.

Not a tribute to His Royal Badness or an attempt to celebration like it's 1983. This was rather about being "Prince" to Seattle's "King"- dome, as if there were some kind of royal lineage aspect to the relationship between the competing cities and a great deal of Freudian friction. See what they did there?

Rhododendrome.

For the reliably beautiful shrubbery, which was a go-to for midcentury Northwest domestic landscapers, and which also occurs to be the Evergreen State flower.

Parker's Dream Dome.

For Tacoma's impossibly youthful then-Mayor Mike Parker, who was simply 30 years old when he took office in 1978.

Tacoma International Kingdome.

Obvious, maybe. Appears like another Freudian symptom, combining delusions of splendour and self-effacement (compared to that city up north, the one with the plain old "Kingdome").

Tacoma Termite Terrarium.

Maybe the most "Boaty McBoat Face" of the lot, this name is for the dome's wood building, which included lumber that had actually been milled from timber blown down in the May 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens.

DomaTacoma.

Probably the very best of the semi-serious suggested names, however the timing may have been off. Luckily, especially for irritating radio historians, this idea came from a band called The Kicks, led by a Seattle artist named Arel Thomas (very first name pronounced "R-L"), and they put out a record.

Even with its appealing Oak Ridge Boys "Elvira" ambiance, this magnificent seven-inch disc came out too late to be seriously considered.

The Tacoma City Council had currently made it official on June 2, 1981, by voting for "Tacoma Dome" (with a space between Tacoma and Dome). Tacoma Space Dome would have been a pretty cool name to add to the mix.

Some Tacomans had actually desired "Tacomadome" to be all one word-- maybe, once again, experiencing one-word Kingdome envy. Nevertheless, this no-space version might also have quickly been misread as "Taco Madome.".

As we all understand by now, the Tacoma Dome had the last-- and long lasting-- laugh.

Seattleites themselves likewise just observed a big dome anniversary this past March 26. That day significant 23 years because that once-mighty structure called the Kingdome-- call it "Seattle's maxidome"-- was minimized to debris by a deliberate implosion to give way for what's now Lumen Field.

Unique thanks to Kim Davenport of TacomaMusicHistory.org for sharing the audio and digitizing of "DomaTacoma.".

If you go: 40th birthday activities will occur Friday, April 28, from 10 a.m. – – 1 p.m. and Saturday, April 29, from 10 a.m. – – 3 p.m., at the Tacoma Dome, 2727 East D Street in Tacoma. Free parking is readily available at the Tacoma Dome for the birthday event.

What much better method to start this weekend's 40th birthday party for "DomaTacoma" than singing in addition to @ColleenKIROFM and @NEWSGUYSULLY and everyone's brand-new favorite vintage earworm?

Did I discuss the FREE PARKING?!? pic.twitter.com/kXI0pUVOto.

-- Feliks Banel (@FeliksBanel) April 28, 2023.

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday early morning on Seattle's Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O'Brien, read more from him here, and sign up for The Resident Historian Podcast here. If you have a story concept, please email Feliks here.

Follow @https:// twitter.com/feliksbanel.

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