 | |||||
| Stadiums by Munsey & Suppes |
Baseball | Basketball | Football | Hockey | |
| Olympics | Race Tracks | Soccer | Mall | ||
|
|
"The Georgia Dome, not the worst-to-first Braves or the 1996 Olympics, began to transform Atlanta's professional sports image from Loserville USA to Big League - and when you see the Dome, it's easy to understand why. The Falcons have one of the best venues in the NFL, suitable to host the Super Bowl.
It gets even better inside. Seats, even in the upper-deck corners, are angled so spectators can see the field without having to turn their bodies, and the roof is supported with cables, so no pillars obstruct the view. When the Falcons are on and the run-and-shoot is carving up defenses, the Gerogia Dome can be an electric place. Music blares and a 300-pound break-dancer in the east end zone revs up his engine and gyrates."
As written by The Sports Staff of USA TODAY in "The Complete Four Sport Stadium Guide" for Fodor's SportsThe largest cable-supported domed stadium in the world and the home of the Atlanta Falcons is open for tours. Tours include the locker rooms, Astroturf storage room, the press box and executive suites. 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday; Noon - 4 p.m. Sundays. Tour schedule subject to change to accommodate Dome Events. One Georgia Dome Drive, (404) 223-TOUR or 223-8687. Fun Facts: * The Dome rises to a height of 275 feet from the center of the playing field to the roof center -- taller than the "Great Gasp" at Six Flags over Georgia. * A pair of C-5 transport planes could fit onto the Georgia Dome floor, which contains 102,000 square feet of exhibition space. * The dome's Teflon-coated Fiberglas fabric roof weighs just 68 pounds, but it is strong enough to support a fully loaded pickup truck. * The dome contains 110,000 cubic yards of concrete, enough to build a sidewalk from Atlanta to Cininnati.
THE ULTIMATE SPORTS ROAD TRIP
Getting to the Venue
Outside the Venue
Seating Bowl The seating area is rather bright with the dominant seating color being teal, being the home of the Falcons we would have preferred it to be black but we suppose you can't have everything. There are small jumbotron video boards dispalyed on the second level of each endzone and numerous ribbon boards and dot matrix boards are scattered along the balcony rim. Large ad billboards are displayed on the wall above the uppermost seats.
Concourses
Concessions
Premium Seating
Banners/Retired Numbers Touchdowns, Extra Points, Fumbles... Extra Point - On our first visit, the Falcons and Saints headed into this game far removed from post season contention. However, there was quite a decent crowd on hand for this one. Considering that football is king in the South and that the Falcons and Saints are the two oldest franchises in the region, these two teams have one of the most underrated rivalries in the NFL and the building had about 25% Saints fans in attendance. The Falcons pummeled the Saints 35-13 that day making Atlanta teams 3 for 3 during our stay. On our return visit, it was the Michael Vick show as the streaking Falcons were all over the visiting Tampa Bay Bucs by a 24-14 score. Extra Point - We checked out the "SEC Experience" going on next door in the Convention Center. Andrew and Peter both tried their proficiency at kicking field goals. Needless to say, the NFL place kickers community can sleep soundly! Touchdown - down on the ground floor is a great museum area called "Historic Halls of the Dome" highlighting the great college moments in this building in a series of exhibits. But - Fumble - it is the building's best kept secret. We never knew it was there until after we got back home. Fumble - not one but TWO travel disasters for the USRT on our second visit here. We praised MARTA as a good way to go to the game, but when we rode the train back to our park n ride lot after the game, our train broke down, and a packed car of people had to wait for a new train. Then that train had mechanical difficulties, compounding our delay again. We get to the airport, and our &^$*(^%# Airtran flight is delayed, although most other flights were OK on a clear day. We finally got out of there around 11 pm for a flight that was scheduled to depart at 7:15. Aaaargghhh!
Summary
FALCONS COULD SEE NEW GEORGIA DOME Atlanta, Ga. - In the future, the Atlanta Falcons could play in a new Georgia Dome south of its current home while the front door to the Georgia World Congress Center would move to Marietta Street in a giant new building. And conventioneers, who bring millions to Atlanta's coffers every year, would get around the convention center on airport-like moving sidewalks or trams. Those are just some of the ideas unveiled in a master plan for the downtown Georgia World Congress Center campus, which encompasses the convention facility, Dome and nearby Centennial Olympic Park. GWCC officials are looking at ways to expand the massive campus to stay competitive with other cities that are building newer and larger football stadiums and convention centers. Khalil Johnson, GWCC chief operating officer, offered no price tag for the ideas and said there is no timetable for when any, if accepted, would be implemented. Any plans would need approval from the GWCC Authority, the governing board. The convention center, Dome and Centennial Olympic Park are state-owned and operated. Whatever is done, it will be a necessary move. The Dome, which is just 16 years old, is older than 20 of the National Football League's more than 30 stadiums. The NFL has increasingly awarded Super Bowls to cities that have newer stadiums. Falcons owner Arthur Blank has said he wants a new stadium when the bonds issued to build the Dome are retired, around 2015 to 2020. When it was built in 1992, the Georgia Dome cost $214 million. But the cost of building a new stadium is now much more expensive. The Dallas Cowboys' new stadium cost about $1 billion, while the New York Jets and New York Giants will play in a $1.3 billion stadium, now under construction. HOK Sport, a Kansas City, Mo.-based firm known for its work with NFL teams, helped create the GWCC's master plan. The company said it saw ways for the facility to better use its footprint to attract business by improving landscaping on its border streets, making the campus more walkable and creating greater areas of greenspace. The company laid out several alternative plans for the GWCC, which generally centered around expanding or moving the Dome and increasing the size of the convention center. Each configuration used some of the GWCC's existing 44 acres of undeveloped space, including parking lots and pre-function or staging areas, for the expansion. That growth also could come from expanding the current Georgia Dome, which has seen several renovations recently, including a new paint job, For example, one plan calls for building new floors atop the Congress Center, making it a vertical as well as a horizontal giant. Building a new football stadium would take four to five years, while building a new convention facility would take about three to five, said Dennis Wellner, senior principal with HOK. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
SUITE SALES HURT GEORGIA DOME PROFITS Atlanta, Ga. - Despite the Atlanta Falcons' winning ways, the Georgia Dome is facing tough economic times. Operators had anticipated profit of $20.2 million in October, but actually made $1 million less. The reason: a $1 million-plus shortfall in the sale of suite licenses, Georgia World Congress Center Director Dan Graveline told the GWCC Authority board. The GWCC operates the dome, the GWCC convention center and Centennial Olympic Park. Graveline said another problem has been advertising sales, which are down because of the recession. The facility has been able to offset some of the loss in anticipated revenue by lowering expenses, Graveline said. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
CLOSED GM PLANT PROPOSED FOR FALCONS STADIUM Atlanta, Ga. - A developer is pitching the site of the closed GM plant in Doraville as a new home for the Atlanta Falcons. The Sembler Co., in a proposal to the Doraville City Council, suggests a retractable-roof stadium on 90 acres of the site. The rest of the site would be used for restaurants, condos and hotels. Falcons President Rich McKay said the team has been contacted by Sembler, according to the report, but added that the team will wait until GM decides who will get the property before going any further. GM recently said it has narrowed discussions about selling the site to one potential buyer, but it would not identify the company, and Sembler declined to comment. The Falcons now play in the recently remodeled Georgia Dome and have a lease through 2020. But owner Arthur Blank has said he'd like a new stadium, possibly before then. Doraville Mayor Ray Jenkins said the auto plant site would be a good spot for a stadium. "This location is so prime to everything," Jenkins says. "No matter what goes in there. Mixed use. Stadium. Whatever." Doraville's city council plans a "town hall style special meeting" in January to get citizen opinions on redevelopment plans for the site, according to the city Web site. But there is no mention of a proposal involving the Falcons. The idea that the redevelopment could include a stadium for the Falcons dates has floated around since 2006 when GM announced the plant would be shut down. (WSB)
Redevelopment of Former GM Plant could include Dome for Falcons A new home for the Atlanta Falcons could be in the works for the shuttered General Motors assembly plant in Doraville, according to city documents. The Sembler Co., one of four bidders for the site and said to be the lone finalist, is listed in a September memo to Doraville City Council as considering a retractable-roof dome. According to a Sept. 9 city memo, Jeffrey Fuqua, the president of Florida-based Sembler, told city officials his company would propose a 90-acre retractable-roof dome with a price tag of nearly $1 billion. The remaining land would be developed as a mixed-use community similar to its Town Brookhaven development. Or plans might involve just a mixed-use development. The state agency that owns and operates the current home of the Falcons isn't saying much about reports that a stadium for the team could be in the works at the site of a shuttered auto plant in Doraville. Dan Graveline, the executive director of the Georgia World Congress Center, which owns and operates the Georgia Dome, declined to speculate about a report that a retractable-roof dome could be part of a developer's plans for the closed plant along Interstate 85. "We have heard rumors of such a proposal, but no plan has been presented to us by the Atlanta Falcons," Graveline said in e-mail. "We cannot speculate on details until something more concrete is determined." The Falcons have a lease to play in the recently upgraded Georgia Dome through 2020. Falcons owner and CEO Arthur Blank has said publicly that he would like a new stadium. Rumors of a stadium at the Doraville site have surfaced since GM announced in 2006 it would close the plant. Doraville Mayor Ray Jenkins said in a telephone interview that General Motors has not picked a bidder and that no official plans have been made. "I'm kindly saying whenever GM decides who it is that's when the city of Doraville will talk to them," Jenkins said. The economy and tightening credit markets have slowed negotiations, Jenkins said. "ÉUntil then it's a complete standstill." Earlier this month, officials with the Georgia World Congress Center Authority unveiled a master plan to expand the nation's fourth-largest convention center and renovate or build a new home for the Falcons. The ambitious vision includes plans for a new Georgia Dome south of the current stadium or extensive renovations to the 16-year-old, 70,000-seat facility. Source: Atlanta Biz Journals
SUITE SALES SLOW AT GEORGIA DOME Atlanta, Ga. - Despite a winning season and a trip to the playoffs, the Atlanta Falcons are taking longer to sell the hundreds of vacant suites and club seats for the coming year. Georgia Dome and Falcons officials blamed the economy. "We probably have more unsold inventory than we've had in the last five years," Rich McKay, president of the Falcons, said at a meeting of the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, which oversees the Dome. Falcons managers said the seats are selling, but much slower than usual. Revenue at the Dome is off about $2 million for the fiscal year - which began July 1, 2008 - mostly because of slow sales of suites and seats, Dan Graveline, executive director of the Georgia World Congress Center, said at the meeting. Dave Cohen, vice president of sales and service for the Falcons, said there are dozens of suites available. Of the 5,400 club seats at the Dome, 1,000 are still for sale. He expects to sell at least 950 of them. He said while the economy has made it tougher to move inventory, about 70 percent of the Dome's preferred seating - suites and club seats - has been sold. Cohen said the team projects 2009 revenue from suites and seats at around $20.7 million, $1.2 million less than they expected. A list of proposed prices for 2009 showed preferred seating available for as little as $5,000 for a single game suite - a discount from years past - to more than $100,000. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
FALCONS SEARCHING ATLANTA AREA FOR STADIUM SITES Atlanta, Ga. - The Atlanta Falcons are looking at possible stadium sites throughout the Atlanta area, although owner Arthur Blank hopes to find a downtown location. The possibility of a new Dome was included in a master plan announced late last year by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. The Falcons are in the lower fourth of the National Football League in revenue. Blank wants a better lease and more management control from the Authority or a new stadium where they control all or most of the management. The lease expires when the bonds sold to build the Dome are paid, which could be as early as 2016 or as late as 2020. It takes roughly seven years - from site development to construction - to complete an NFL stadium.
FALCONS STILL FOCUSED ON NEW STADIUM Atlanta, Ga. - Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons, expects it to take seven years for his efforts to build a new stadium to bear fruit. Blank says he expects to be the major financial backer of the venue, but that public money will be needed as well. Whatever happens, Blank said the Falcons need to play in a new stadium not only to keep their competitive edge but to help Atlanta maintain its image as a world-class city. Blank has said previously that he wants a new stadium when the bonds sold to the Georgia Dome are paid off, probably around 2015 to 2020. He mentioned that the team's lease of the state-owned facility expires in 2020 or when the bonds are paid. "The Falcons are falling behind other teams in the NFL in terms of the experience for our fans," Blank said at the Atlanta Press Club. The Falcons started playing in the Georgia Dome in 1992. Since that time, 25 NFL teams have gotten new stadiums, Blank said. He's concerned that the franchise's competitive edge is waning without a modern-looking home. The stadium could have a retractable roof and cost approximately $1 billion.
GEORGIA DOME TO GET ADDITIONAL STUDY Atlanta, Ga. - The Georgia World Congress Center Authority agreed to pay Kansas City-based Populous architects $145,000 to propose a master plan for the Georgia Dome. The company's conclusions could be available as early as early spring. The decision to study the Dome's future comes on the heels of continued speculation that the Atlanta Falcons, who have called the stadium home since it was completed in 1992, could possibly move away from downtown. Dan Graveline, executive director of the Georgia World Congress Center, told authority board members that the Populous study would look at the merits of renovating the current Dome or building a new stadium. Populous has already looked at the Dome's future in an overall master plan study it conducted for the GWCCA last year that weighed the entire campus, including the construction of a new wing for the convention center. But this study would focus more intently on the Dome to give the authority and the Falcons a more complete look at the building's tangibles. It will take into consideration building a new dome, an open-air arena or having a retractable roof. It also will look at the cost of gutting the current building and starting over.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
