The Louisiana Superdome
, often informally referred to simply as the Superdome
, The Dome
or the New Orleans Superdome
is a large, multi-purpose sports and exhibition facility located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It was designed in 1967 by the New Orleans modernist architectural firm of Curtis and Davis, who also designed the main branch of the New Orleans Public Library (1956-58). The Superdome is the current home of the NFL's New Orleans Saints.
The Superdome is the largest fixed
domed structure in the world, but it lost its title as the largest domed structure when the Georgia Dome in Atlanta was completed in 1992. (Both the Superdome and Georgia Dome were surpassed in size by London's Millennium Dome in 1999.) Nonetheless, its structural steel frame covers a thirteen-acre expanse. Its tall dome is made of a Lamella multi-ringed frame and has a diameter of .
In 2005, the Superdome came to international attention when it housed thousands of evacuees seeking shelter from Hurricane Katrina.
|
MERCEDES-BENZ SUPERDOME (FORMERLY LOUISIANA SUPERDOME) TICKETS
|
Capacity
The Superdome has a listed maximum football
seating capacity of 72,003 (expanded) or 69,703 (not expanded), a maximum basketball
seating capacity of 55,675, and a maximum baseball capacity of 63,525; however, published attendance figures from events such as the Sugar Bowl football game have exceeded 79,000. A 1980s
Rolling Stones concert attracted over 87,500 spectators.
Stadium history
The brainchild of local sports visionary
David Dixon, (who decades later founded the
USFL), the idea for the Superdome was born while Dixon was attempting to convince the NFL to award a franchise to New Orleans. After hosting several exhibition games at
Tulane Stadium during typical New Orleans summer thunderstorms, Dixon was told by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle that the NFL would never expand into New Orleans without a domed stadium. Dixon then won the support of the
governor of
Louisiana,
John J. McKeithen. When they toured the
Astrodome in
Houston, Texas in 1966, McKeithen was quoted as saying, "I want one of these, only bigger," in reference to the
Astrodome itself. Bonds were passed for construction of the Superdome on
November 8,
1966, seven days after commissioner
Pete Rozelle awarded New Orleans the 25th professional football franchise.
Blount International of
Montgomery,
Alabama was chosen to build the stadium.
It was hoped the stadium would be ready in time for the
1972 NFL season, and the final cost of the facility would come in at $46 million. Instead, due to political delays which are all too familiar in Louisiana, construction did not start until
August 11,
1971 and was not finished until August 1975, seven months after
Super Bowl IX was scheduled to be played in the stadium. Since the stadium was not finished in time for the Super Bowl, the game had to be moved to
Tulane Stadium and was played in cold and rainy conditions. Factoring in inflation, construction delays, and the increase in transportation costs caused by the
1973 energy crisis, the final price tag of the stadium skyrockted to $165 million.
The New Orleans Saints opened the
1975 NFL season at the Superdome, losing 21-0 to the
Cincinnati Bengals in the first regular season game in the facility. Tulane Stadium was condemned on the day the Superdome opened, although the original concrete sections stood on the
Tulane University campus until November 1979.
The Superdome's look was the work of local architect, Nathaniel "Buster" Curtis of Curtis & Davis. The contractor was Huber, Hunt & Nichols.
The Superdome is located on of land, including the former
Girod Street Cemetery. The dome has an interior space of , a height of , a dome diameter of , and a total floor area of .
The
New Orleans Arena, a smaller indoor arena adjacent to the Louisiana Superdome, opened on
October 19,
1999. It was designed by
Arthur Q. Davis, whose former firm had designed the Superdome.
The Superdome converted to a
Fieldturf artificial grass surface during the 2003 football season, with the first game on
FieldTurf played on
November 16,
2003. The FieldTurf replaced the
AstroPlay surface. After being damaged in flooding from Hurricane Katrina, a new FieldTurf surface was installed for the 2006 football season.
Effect of Hurricane Katrina
The Superdome was used as a "shelter of last resort" for those in New Orleans unable to evacuate from
Hurricane Katrina when it struck in late August 2005. A few days later the dome was closed until
September 25,
2006. It housed about 30,000 people.
Reopening after Katrina
The Superdome cost $193 million to repair and refurbish. To repair the Superdome, FEMA put up $115 million
[1], the state spent $13 million, the Louisiana Stadium & Expedition District refinanced a bond package to secure $41 million and the NFL contributed $15 million.
On
Super Bowl XL Sunday (
February 5,
2006), the
NFL announced that the Saints would play their home opener on
September 24,
2006 in the Superdome against the
Atlanta Falcons. The game was later moved to Monday night,
September 25,
2006.
The dome reopened amid a wave of pomp and circumstance, including a free outdoor concert by the
Goo Goo Dolls before fans were allowed in, a pregame performance by the rock bands
U2 and
Green Day performing a
cover of
The Skids' "
The Saints Are Coming", and a coin toss conducted by former
President George H. W. Bush. In front of
ESPN's largest-ever audience (at that time), the Saints won the game 23–3 and went on to a successful season reaching the
NFC Championship Game.
The first bowl game played in the Superdome after Katrina was the New Orleans Bowl won by the
Troy University Trojans 41–17 over the Rice Owls.
Major events
- New Orleans Saints
-- New Orleans Saints home games.
- Green Wave Football
-- Tulane University college football home games
- Super Bowl
-- More Super Bowls have been played at the Louisiana Superdome than at any other sports facility: 1978, 1981, 1986, 1990, 1997, and 2002.
- BCS National Championship Game
-- The Louisiana Superdome rotates with three other locations as the host for the BCS National Championship Game. The Superdome hosted the BCS National Championship Game in 2000, 2004, and 2008. LSU's win in the 2008 BCS National Championship saw a Superdome record of 79,651, the largest crowd for a sporting event.
- Sugar Bowl
-- The Superdome has been home to the Sugar Bowl since 1975.
- The Final Four
-- the Superdome hosted the NCAA college basketball Final Fours in 1982, 1987, 1993, and 2003.
- The Bayou Classic
-- a football game between two historically black universities, Grambling State and Southern University.
- New Orleans Bowl
- '''Louisiana high school football championships
- The first National Wrestling Alliance Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tourmanent
on April 19 1986.
- In addition to sporting events, the Superdome hosts other large events, notably music concerts by national acts, as well as trade shows and conventions. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Mid South Wrestling ran quarterly events in the Superdome. The 1988 Republican National Convention was held in the Superdome
- The 1988 Republican Party national convention was held in the Superdome. Pushing for the New Orleans site was Virginia Martinez, then the Louisiana National Committeewoman who lobbied for his adopted home city before the Executive Committee of the Republican National Convention. The convention nominated George Herbert Walker Bush of Texas for U.S. President and J. Danforth Quayle of Indiana for the vice presidency.
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation
References
- http://www.ktbs.com/news/local/4224476.html {{Dead link|date=August 2008}}