Georgia Dome

Georgia Dome of Atlanta, GA

Location	1 Georgia Dome Drive, N.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30313-1591
Opened	1992
Owner	State of Georgia
Operator	Georgia World Congress Center Authority
Surface	FieldTurf
Construction cost	$214 million
Architect	Heery International; Rosser FABRAP International; and Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates (TVS)
Capacity	71,228 Basketball:26,000[1]
Tenants
Atlanta Falcons (NFL) (1992-present) Atlanta Hawks (NBA) (1997-1999) Sugar Bowl (NCAA) (2006) Chick-fil-A Bowl (NCAA) (1992-present) SEC Championship Game (1994-present) Final Four (2002, 2007) FIRST Robotics World Championship (2004-Present) Georgia State University (Scheduled for 2010)

The Georgia Dome of Atlanta, GA is a domed stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia that is owned and operated by the State of Georgia. From 1992 through 1999, it was the largest domed structure in the world.

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, funded the new state-of-the-art FieldTurf artificial surface system.^[2] FieldTurf has been favorably compared to real grass.

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."^[3] In 2008, the exterior of the stadium was repainted from its original color scheme to the Falcons' team colors, 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 replaced during the prior renovation. The entrance gates and concourses were also renovated and updated before the 2008 football season.^{[4] [5]}

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.^{[6] [7]}

2008

Main article: 2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak

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.^[7] The resulting damage forced the rest of the tournament to be moved to the Alexander Memorial Coliseum at Georgia Tech.^[8]

Events hosted

The Georgia Dome prior to the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl

The Dome is home to the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and the annual host to the Southeastern Conference Football Championship Game, 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. Since 1998, the Dome also hosts the Atlanta Football Classic by Bank of America and the 100 Black Men of Atlanta. This is an annual HBCU football game between Tennessee State University and Florida A&M University. 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^[9], 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 hosted the Georgia High School Association football semi-finals until 2007. The GHSA will host the football finals for all classifications at the Dome in 2008.^[10] 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 2004. 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.

The interior of the Georgia Dome prior to the 2008 Chick-fil-A College Kickoff

References

See also

• Tensile architecture
• Tensile and membrane structures

External links

• The Georgia Dome's Official Website
• Georgia Dome in the Structurae database