The Georgia Dome
is a domed stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia that is owned and operated by the State of Georgia.
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Construction
The Georgia Dome was completed in 1992 at a cost of $214 million (
US) which came from the Georgia General Assembly, making it one of the largest state-funded construction projects in state history. It seats 71,228 for football, and can hold approximately: 75,000 for
concerts, 53,000 for
basketball when the dome is fully open and 40,000 for basketball and gymnastics when the dome is sectioned off (one half closed off by a large curtain). The structure is located on 9.19 acres (37,200 m²) of land; the dome has a height of 270.67 feet (82.5 meters), a structure length of 744.75 feet (227 meters), a structure width of 606.96 feet (185 meters), and a total floor area of 102,149.51 ft² (9,490 m²). The dome is the largest
cable-supported dome in the world. Its roof is made of
teflon-coated fiberglass fabric (which is strong and lightweight) and has an area of 374,584.08 ft² (34,800 m²). From its completion until the
December 31,
1999 opening of the 20-acre
Millennium Dome in
London, it was the largest domed structure of any type in the world, but still remains the largest indoor sporting facility in the United States.
Surface
The Georgia Dome originally had
AstroTurf artificial surface for its football events.
In 2003
Arthur Blank, the new owner of the Atlanta Falcons, personally paid for the new state-of-the-art
FieldTurf artificial surface system.
Renovations
In 2006, the Atlanta Falcons and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority announced a $30 million renovation to the Georgia Dome. The project was separated into two stages. The first stage, which took place before the 2007 NFL season, focused on updating the premium seating areas, including the creation of eight "super-suites."
[1] The renovations for 2008 will be more apparent to visitors of the Georgia Dome. The exterior of the stadium was repainted from its original color scheme to the Falcons color scheme, and the stadium's original teal seats were replaced with red seats in the 100 and 300 levels and black seats in the general admission areas of the 200 level. The seats in the club sections were already replaced in the earlier renovation. The entrance gates and concourses are also being renovated and updated before the 2008 football season.
[2] [3]
Major weather-related issues
1995
Three years after completion of the dome, pooling of water became an issue during a Falcons verses Cleveland pre-season game when a severe rain storm led to tearing of the roof and a section of the roof falling into the stadium. No one was injured during the incident as the part of the roof that fell happened after the fans had left the stadium. The water and roof material smashed seats in the upper decks and knocked holes in concrete floors. The storm was intense though that the roof panels could be seen moving during the game. The roof was repaired at that time in such a way to prevent this from occurring in the future.
[4] [5]
2008
On
March 14,
2008, during the
2008 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament, a tornado ripped two holes in the dome during the Alabama-Mississippi State quarterfinal game, which delayed the game for 1 hour and 3 minutes. The quarterfinal game to follow between
Kentucky Wildcats and
Georgia Bulldogs was postponed to the following day.
The resulting damage forced the rest of the tournament to be moved to the
Alexander Memorial Coliseum at
Georgia Tech.
[6]
Events hosted
The Dome is home to the
NFL's
Atlanta Falcons and the annual host to the
Southeastern Conference Football Championship Game,
The Chick-fil-a Bowl (formerly known as The Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl and The Peach Bowl) post-season college football games, and since 2004 the
FIRST World Championships. It was also home to the
NBA's
Atlanta Hawks during the construction of
Philips Arena from
1997 to 1999, as well as hosting
basketball [7],
team handball and
gymnastics during the
1996 Summer Olympics. Since
1994, the Dome has hosted two Super Bowls and has also been host to both the Men's and Women's
NCAA Final Four Basketball National Championships and several
SEC and
ACC basketball championships.
It hosted
Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994 and
Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, as well as the prestigious
NCAA Final Four Men's Basketball National Championship in 2002 and 2007 along with regional semi-finals and finals in 2001 and 2006 and
NCAA Women's Final Four in 2003. The Dome has been host to many
WCW Monday Nitro and
WWE RAW live events, including the now-infamous "
Fingerpoke of Doom" in 1999 as well as the memorable championship bout between
Bill Goldberg and
Hulk Hogan. It was also the host to
WWR Showdown XV. Since 2004, the Georgia Dome has annually hosted the
FIRST Robotics Championship Event. Also,
Drum Corps International held its first event at the Georgia Dome in July 2006 when the Dome hosted DCI Atlanta – The Southeastern Championship. As a result of damage done to the
Louisiana Superdome in
New Orleans, Louisiana by
Hurricane Katrina, the
Sugar Bowl game was played at the Georgia Dome on
January 2,
2006 which was the first time "the South's Biggest Bowl Game" was ever played outside the state of Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl finished a string of three football games in four days that started with the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl between
LSU and
Miami (Florida) and an NFL game between the Falcons and the
Carolina Panthers two days later.
While playing at the Georgia Dome on March 27, 1998, the Atlanta Hawks broke the NBA single-game attendance record with 62,046 fans.
The Georgia Dome also hosts the
Georgia High School Association football state playoff semi-finals.
It also hosts music concerts.
The Georgia Dome will also host the inaugural football season for
Georgia State University when the school fields its first gridiron team in 2010. Also, The Georgia Dome will also host the 2010 General Conference Sessions of
Seventh-day Adventists.
The Georgia Dome has hosted the world FIRST Robotics Championship since 2003. Over 300 teams from around the world qualify annually, to compete in the championship held in late March, as Well as the FIRST LEGO League World Festival at the same time.
References
- AlantaFalcons.com: Striking changes usher in new era for Dome
- AlantaFalcons.com: Dome, Falcons announce new renovations
- AlantaFalcons.com: Dome Renovations Photo Album
- Georgia Dome Is Damaged (1995)
- Storm hits Georgia Dome, interrupts SEC play
[Tornado Kills, 2 Pummels Downtown by Tim Eberly and Paul Shea for the ''Atlanta Journal and Constitution, March 15, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2008.]- The Palm Beach Post, Gators view Georgia Dome as someplace like home