PITTSBURGH -- Thirty years of Three Rivers Stadium sports and entertainment memories were reduced to rubble in 19 seconds Sunday.

The former home of the Pirates and Steelers on the city's North Side was imploded just before 8 a.m. A Zambelli Internationale fireworks display followed.

The big blast broke the bowl down into 8,000 tons of scrap metal and concrete, much of which will be recycled.

New stadiums being built nearby will house the Pirates and Steelers in their 2001 seasons and will be specific to baseball and football, respectively. The yet-unnamed Steelers stadium stands just 65 feet from where Three Rivers once stood, and the Pirates' PNC Park is a stone's throw away on Pittsburgh's North Shore.

Demolition crews had set an 800-foot perimeter around Three Rivers Stadium. Controlled Demolition Inc. reported that nothing fell within a 40-foot radius of Three Rivers.

Experts had loaded 4,800 pounds of dynamite into the mammoth circular stadium last week. The western wall tumbled inward and the rest of the structure collapsed into a cloud of dust in seconds.

Thousands of onlookers cheered the implosion of the 30-year-old stadium after arriving early to snag prime vantage points at Point State Park, Station Square on the South Side, the Mount Washington overlooks and the Gateway Clipper river touring fleet.

The stadium was best known as the site of Roberto Clemente's 3,000th hit and a wildly deflected touchdown pass from Terry Bradshaw to Franco Harris that was instantly dubbed the Immaculate Reception -- possibly the most famous play in NFL history.

Three Rivers opened in 1970 at a cost of $36 million. It immediately boosted the sagging fortunes of the Pirates and Steelers.

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After moving in at midseason, the Pirates ended a 10-year championship drought by winning the first of their nine divisional titles. They also won two NL pennants and World Series titles in 1971 and 1979.

The Steelers soon became a dynasty, winning four Super Bowls in six years and churning out several Hall of Famers.

Many spectators remembering those moments left the North Side Sunday with tears in their eyes.

"This is a very bittersweet day for me," Mayor Tom Murphy said.