35th Anniversary Of Hartford Civic Center Roof Collapse On A Cold January Day In 1978

It was a terrible day in Connecticut 35 years ago on January 18, 1978 as the Hartford Civic Center roof collapsed.

The story gained national attention as photos from above showed that the roof had tumbled down to the basketball court below under the massive weight of heavy snow.

Through a major stroke of luck, no one was injured in the collapse at 4:19 a.m. But it happened only six hours after a college basketball game that attracted about 5,000 spectators. In addition, the roof came down about 15 hours before a high school game was scheduled to begin.

The collapse caused Hartford Whalers fans to head north along Interstate 91 to Springfield until the roof was finally replaced.

Only two years ago, the roof collapses at barns and small businesses across Connecticut raised memories of the biggest collapse of all in downtown Hartford.

Not only is the re-built roof much stronger than the original, but workers were taking no chances two years ago when they cleared the snow off the coliseum roof at the newly named XL Center in downtown Hartford.