December 23, 200322 yr 12/22/2003 5:58 PM ET Vet being prepped for demolition By Ken Mandel / MLB.com PHILADELPHIA -- Cross off statue removal from the list of projects under way as Veterans Stadium heads toward its spring implosion. Workers from the George Young Co. on Monday began dismantling a scene depicting a second-base slide that had been at Gate B of The Vet. The player sliding into second base was taken away, and the second baseman covering the bag will be removed Tuesday. Later this week, a Gate D statue depicting a football tackle will be gone. All statues will be stored on Young's premises, where they will be repaired, cleaned and waxed. Four of the statues were sculpted by Philadelphia native Johansen Brown and have stood outside The Vet since 1976. Two of the four statues -- a batter outside of Gate F and a football punter outside of Gate H -- were removed last week as the 33-year-old Vet is prepared for demolition. The Connie Mack statue at the corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue also was taken down. The Connie Mack statue will return to the west side of Citizens Bank Park this coming spring, and the other four statues will eventually surround the 5,500-space parking lot slated to sit on The Vet's grounds. The Phillies will denote where home plate and each of the other three bases stood by placing markers on the spots. Next on the schedule is the excavation of a time capsule the team buried on May 1, 1983, to commemorate its 100th anniversary. That eventually will be placed near the new site of the Connie Mack statue. Shortly after the new year, general manager Ed Wade, team president David Montgomery and all Phillies employees will move to their new Citizen Bank Park offices. The last business day at The Vet is Jan 8. The team also is planning a Feb. 6 "Final Pieces ... Veterans Stadium Memorabilia Auction and Sale" at the Wachovia Center, which is located across the street from The Vet. Fans will be able to bid on items from the old ballpark. Ken Mandel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
December 23, 200322 yr I will dance on it's ashes and then shed a tear because it stood for everything Philadelphia was, hated and only appreciated by those who lived there or near it. Bring on The Cit!
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