Georgia Dome

Georgia Dome
Location	1 Georgia Dome Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30313-1591
Broke ground	November 22, 1989
Opened	September 6, 1992
Owner	State of Georgia
Operator	Georgia World Congress Center Authority
Surface	1992 to 2002 Astroturf 2003 to present FieldTurf
Construction cost	$214 million
Architect	Heery International; Rosser FABRAP International; and Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates (TVS)
Capacity	Football: 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) 1996 Summer Olympics (basketball, gymnastics and handball venue) Final Four (2002, 2007), 2013 FIRST Robotics World Championship (2004–2010) Georgia State Panthers (NCAA) (Scheduled for 2010) WrestleMania XXVII (2011)

The Georgia Dome is a domed stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west. It has been the home stadium for the Atlanta Falcons since 1992, and is owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center. The Georgia Dome was the largest domed structure in the world until 1999, when the Millennium Dome in London was completed.

The Dome is accessible by rail via MARTA's East-West and Proctor Creek lines, which service the nearby Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center and Vine City stations.

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 record for overall attendance at the Georgia Dome is 75,892 for the 2008 SEC Championship Game in football.^[2]

The structure is located on 9.19 acres (37,200 m²) of land; the dome has a height of 270.67 feet (82.5 m), a structure length of 744.75 feet (227 m), a structure width of 606.96 feet (185 m), 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 (81,000 m²) 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.^[3] 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' as well as an owners club.^[4] In 2008, the exterior of the stadium was repainted from its original color scheme to match 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 Verizon Wireless Club Level (200 Level). The entrance gates and concourses were also renovated and updated before the 2008 football season.^[5][6]. Additionally, in 2009 the two video screens in both endzones were relocated to a new exterior monument sign on Northside Drive. The interior endzones each received a new and considerably wider replacement video screen that significantly enhance views of replays. That year also saw the installation of a completely new sound system, replacing the previous one that was over twenty years old.

Major weather-related issues

Three years after completion of the dome, pooling of water became an issue during a Falcons 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 enough 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.^[7][8]

In the 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 one hour and three minutes. The quarterfinal game to follow between Kentucky Wildcats and Georgia Bulldogs was postponed to the following day.^[8] The resulting damage forced the rest of the tournament to be moved to the Alexander Memorial Coliseum at Georgia Tech.^[9]

New stadium proposal

On December 25, 2008, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a land developer, The Sembler Company, is in preliminary talks and negoitations to buy the former General Motors plant in Doraville to build a new stadium for the Falcons. However, there has been a push by Georgia state legislators to keep the Falcons in downtown. Also, the GM Doraville site has recently been sold to a Florida firm that has stated that it will redeveloping it into a new mixed use community.^[10][11][12]

Events hosted

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

Football

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. The Georgia Dome will also host the inaugural football season for Georgia State University when the school fields its first gridiron team in 2010. The stadium also hosted Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994 and Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000.

The Georgia Dome also hosted the Georgia High School Association football semi-finals until 2007, from 2008 onward, the Association hosted the football finals for all classifications at the Dome.^[13]

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.

Basketball

The Georgia Dome hosted the prestigious NCAA Final Four Men's Basketball National Championship in 2002 and 2007 along with regional semifinals and finals in 2001, 2004, and 2006 and NCAA Women's Final Four in 2003. The stadium will also host the 2013 NCAA Final Four Men's Basketball National Championship as well as the NCAA South Regional Semifinals and Final in 2012. It was also one of two homes, along with Alexander Memorial Coliseum, for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks during the construction of Philips Arena from 1997 to 1999, as well as hosting basketball^[14], team handball and gymnastics during the 1996 Summer Olympics. While playing at the Georgia Dome on March 27, 1998, the Atlanta Hawks set a then-NBA single-game attendance record with 62,046 fans.

Other events

The Dome has been host to many WCW Monday Nitro and WWE Raw live events, including the now-infamous "Fingerpoke of Doom" on January 4, 1999 as well as the memorable championship bout between Goldberg and Hulk Hogan on July 6, 1998. 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.

In the future, the stadium said it is highly interested in hosting a 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup match(es) if the United States is selected for either one now that the dome has been approved by FIFA to host soccer matches^[15].

The Professional Bull Riders' premier bull riding tour, the Built Ford Tough Series, visited the Georgia Dome from 2003–2005, and again in 2007.

The Georgia Dome will also host the 2010 General Conference Sessions of Seventh-day Adventists.

The USHRA Monster Jam series comes to the Georgia Dome every January for their winter season kickoff show. It's known as the "Super Bowl of Motorsports" and it has become one of the biggest stops Monster Jam makes in North America.

From 2004-2010, the Georgia Dome played host to the World Championship of the FIRST Robotics Competition. Over 300 teams from around the world qualify annually, to compete in the championship held in mid April. The FIRST LEGO League World Festival and First Tech Challenge Championships occurred at the same time, at different ends of the Dome. The Championship has moved to the Edward Jones Dome for the 2011 competition season. It is unlikely that the competition will return to the Dome.

On June 24, 2009, the dome hosted its first ever soccer match between Mexico and Venezuela. The dome held an attendance of 51,115 fans. Precision Turf of Lilburn laid 4-by-8 foot grass sections over the Dome’s FieldTurf.^[16]. Subsequently,on July 22, 2009, the Dome hosted a exhibition match between AC Milan of Italian Serie A league and Club America of Mexican Primera División league as part of the World Football Challenge. The game featured stars such as Ronaldinho and the attendance for the match was 53,600 with Club America defeating AC Milan 2-1.^[17] On July 28, 2010, Club America will revisit the Dome in a friendly against Manchester City from the English Premier League. ^[18]

The Georgia Dome will be hosting World Wrestling Entertainment's WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, 2011. It is the first WrestleMania held in the State of Georgia.

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

In Popular Culture

Ludacris references the Georgia Dome in his single 'What's Your Fantasy'. In this song he advises Shawnna that he wants to 'get her' on the 50 yard line while watching the dirty birds kick for three.^[19]

See also

• Tensile architecture
• Tensile and membrane structures

References

External links

• The Georgia Dome's Official Website
• Georgia Dome at Structurae

Georgia Dome - Navigation templates Atlanta Falcons Founded in 1966 • Based in Atlanta, Georgia The franchise Franchise • Seasons • History • Players • Expansion draft • Draft history • First-round draft picks Stadiums Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium • Georgia Dome Culture Rankin M. Smith, Sr. • Arthur Blank • Fight Song • Freddie Falcon • Michael Vick dog fighting investigation Rivalry Carolina Panthers • New Orleans Saints Starting quarterbacks Johnson • Berry • Lee • Bartkowski • Archer • Campbell • Miller • Hebert • George • Chandler • Vick • Harrington • Redman • Ryan Head coaches Hecker • Van Brocklin • Campbell • Peppler • Bennett • Henning • Campbell • Hanifan • Glanville • Jones • Reeves • W. Phillips • J.L. Mora • Petrino • Thomas • Smith Division championships (3) 1980 • 1998 • 2004 Super Bowl appearances (1) XXXIII Retired numbers 10 • 31 • 57 • 58 • 60 • 78 • 87 Seasons 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 Current league affiliations League: National Football League • Conference: National Football Conference • Division: South Division Atlanta Hawks Formerly the Buffalo Bisons, Tri-Cities Blackhawks, Milwaukee Hawks, and St. Louis Hawks • Founded in 1946 • Based in Atlanta, Georgia The Franchise Franchise • All-Time roster • Seasons • Head coaches • Current season Arenas Wharton Field House • Milwaukee Arena • Kiel Auditorium • St. Louis Arena • Alexander Memorial Coliseum • Omni Coliseum • Lakefront Arena • Georgia Dome • Philips Arena Head Coaches Potter • Auerbach • MacMillan • Logan • Todorovich • Moore • Levane • Holzman • Martin • Hannum • Phillip • Macauley • Seymour • Levane • Pettit • Gallatin • Guerin • Fitzsimmons • Tormohlen • Brown • Fratello • Loughery • Fratello • Weiss • Wilkens • Kruger • Stotts • Woodson • Drew D-League Affiliate Utah Flash NBA Championships (1) 1958 Retired Jerseys 9 • 17 • 21 • 23 • 40 Lore "Shock the World" • The Human Highlight Film • Harry the Hawk • The Highlight Factory • J-Smoove • Pistol Pete Media TV: WPCH-TV • Fox Sports South • SportSouth • Radio: WQXI-AM • Announcers: Bob Rathbun • Dominique Wilkins • Steve Holman Atlanta landmarks Current Atlanta Botanical Garden • Atlanta City Hall • Atlanta Civic Center • Atlanta Cyclorama • Atlanta History Center • Atlanta Symphony Hall • Atlantic Station • The Big Chicken • Bobby Dodd Stadium • Centennial Olympic Park • Center for Puppetry Arts • Chattahoochee River • Clermont Lounge • CNN Center • Fernbank Museum of Natural History • Fernbank Science Center • Fox Theatre • Georgia Aquarium • Georgia Dome • Georgia Governor's Mansion • Georgia International Convention Center • Georgia State Capitol • Georgia World Congress Center • Grant Park • Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport • High Museum of Art • Jimmy Carter Library and Museum • Joel Chandler Harris House (Wren's Nest) • Lenox Square • Margaret Mitchell House & Museum • Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site • Mary Mac's Tea Room • Millennium Gate • Oakland Cemetery • Philips Arena • Phipps Plaza • Piedmont Park • Stone Mountain • Tech Tower • The Tabernacle • The Varsity • Turner Field • Underground Atlanta • Winecoff Hotel • Woodruff Arts Center • Woodruff Park • World of Coca-Cola • Zoo Atlanta Former Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium • Coca-Cola Olympic City • Loew's Grand Theatre • National Museum of Patriotism • Omni Coliseum • Ponce de Leon Park • Rich's • SciTrek • Terminal Station • Union Station SEC Championship Game Years 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 Venues Legion Field (1992–1993) • Georgia Dome (1994–present) Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) men's basketball tournament venues Reynolds Coliseum (1954–66) • Greensboro Coliseum (1967, 1971–75, 1977–80, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1995–98, 2003–04, 2006, 2010–11, 2013–15) • Bojangles' Coliseum (1968–70) • Capital Centre (1976, 1981, 1987) • The Omni (1983, 1985, 1989) • Charlotte Coliseum II (1990–94, 1999–2000, 2002) • Georgia Dome (2001, 2009) • Verizon Center (2005) • St. Pete Times Forum (2007) • Time Warner Cable Arena (2008) • Phillips Arena (2012) Current stadiums of the National Football League American Football Conference Arrowhead Stadium • Cleveland Browns Stadium • EverBank Field • Gillette Stadium • Heinz Field • Invesco Field at Mile High • LP Field • Lucas Oil Stadium • M&T Bank Stadium • New Meadowlands Stadium • Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum • Paul Brown Stadium • Qualcomm Stadium • Ralph Wilson Stadium • Reliant Stadium • Rogers Centre1 • Sun Life Stadium National Football Conference Bank of America Stadium • Candlestick Park • Cowboys Stadium • Edward Jones Dome • FedEx Field • Ford Field • Georgia Dome • Lambeau Field • Lincoln Financial Field • Louisiana Superdome • Mall of America Field • New Meadowlands Stadium • Qwest Field • Raymond James Stadium • Soldier Field • University of Phoenix Stadium Pro Bowl Aloha Stadium International Series Wembley Stadium Hall of Fame Game Fawcett Stadium 1 Home stadium of Buffalo Bills for one regular season game each year. Current NCAA Division I FBS college football bowl game stadiums Alamodome (Alamo) • Aloha Stadium (Hawaiʻi, Hula) • Amon G. Carter Stadium (Armed Forces) • AT&T Park (Kraft Fight Hunger) • Bank of America Stadium (Meineke) • Bronco Stadium (Humanitarian Bowl) • Cotton Bowl (TicketCity) • Cowboys Stadium (Cotton) • Ford Field (Little Caesars Pizza) • Georgia Dome (Chick-fil-A) • Independence Stadium (Independence) • EverBank Field (Gator) • LP Field (Music City) • Ladd Peebles Stadium (GMAC, Senior) • Florida Citrus Bowl (Champs Sports, Capital One, East-West Shrine) • Legion Field (BBVA Compass) • Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (Liberty) • Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans, Sugar) • Qualcomm Stadium (Poinsettia, Holiday) • Raymond James Stadium (Outback) • Reliant Stadium (Texas) • Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium (Military) • Rose Bowl (Rose, BCS Nat'l Champ.) • Sam Boyd Stadium (Maaco) • Sun Bowl Stadium (Sun, Texas v. Nation) • Sun Devil Stadium (Insight) • Sun Life Stadium (Orange) • Tropicana Field (Beef 'O' Brady's) • University Stadium (New Mexico) • University of Phoenix Stadium (Fiesta) • Yankee Stadium (Pinstripe) Georgia State University Academics Andrew Young School of Policy Studies  • College of Arts & Sciences  • College of Education  • College of Health & Human Sciences  • Georgia State University College of Law  • J. Mack Robinson College of Business Athletics Colonial Athletic Association  • Football  • Georgia Dome  • Georgia State Panthers  • Municipal Auditorium  • Pounce the Blue Panther Campus Campus expansion  • Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Company Plant  • Images  • Rialto Center for the Arts Student life Greek life  • GSTV  • New South  • Rampway Online • The Signal • WRAS People Alumni  • Faculty  • Georgia State University Foundation  • Ludacris  • Julia Roberts College football venues in Georgia Division I FBS ACC Bobby Dodd Stadium (Georgia Tech) SEC Sanford Stadium (Georgia) Division I FCS CAA Georgia Dome (Georgia State) Southern Paulson Stadium (Georgia Southern) Independent Ted Wright Stadium (Savannah State) Division II Gulf South Bazemore–Hyder Stadium (Valdosta State) • University Stadium (West Georgia) SIAC Albany Municipal Coliseum (Albany State) • Panther Stadium (Clark Atlanta) • Wildcat Stadium (Fort Valley State) • B. T. Harvey Stadium (Morehouse) Division III Independent Callaway Stadium (LaGrange) NAIA Mid-South Barron Stadium (Shorter) A. J. McClung Memorial Stadium • Memorial Stadium Super Bowl host venues Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (I, VII) · Miami Orange Bowl (II, III, V, X, XIII) · Tulane Stadium (IV, VI, IX) · Rice Stadium (VIII) · Rose Bowl (XI, XIV, XVII, XXI, XXVII) · Louisiana Superdome (XII, XV, XX, XXIV, XXXI, XXXVI, XLVII) · Pontiac Silverdome (XVI) · Tampa Stadium (XVIII, XXV) · Stanford Stadium (XIX) · Qualcomm Stadium (XXII, XXXII, XXXVII) · Sun Life Stadium (XXIII, XXIX, XXXIII, XLI, XLIV) · Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (XXVI) · Georgia Dome (XXVIII, XXXIV) · Sun Devil Stadium (XXX) · Raymond James Stadium (XXXV, XLIII) · Reliant Stadium (XXXVIII) · Everbank Field (XXXIX) · Ford Field (XL) · University of Phoenix Stadium (XLII) · Cowboys Stadium (XLV) · Lucas Oil Stadium (XLVI) · New Meadowlands Stadium (XLVIII) Sugar Bowl Game History | Tulane Stadium | Georgia Dome | Louisiana Superdome | BCS | Broadcasters Tie-Ins: Southeastern Conference | BCS At-Large Bid Games 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 1970 | 1971 | 1972 (Jan) | 1972 (Dec) | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 (Jan) | 1995 (Dec) | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006* | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 Notes Bolded years, indicates it was also the BCS National Championship Game. *Game was played in Atlanta, Georgia because of Hurricane Katrina. WrestleMania venues Madison Square Garden (I, X, XX) · Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (2, VII) · Rosemont Horizon (2, 13, 22) · Nassau Coliseum (2) · Pontiac Silverdome (III) · Trump Plaza (IV, V) · Skydome (VI, X8) · Hoosier Dome (VIII) · Caesars Palace (IX) · Hartford Civic Center (XI) · Arrowhead Pond (XII, 2000) · FleetCenter (XIV) · First Union Center (XV) · Reliant Astrodome (X-Seven) · Safeco Field (XIX) · Staples Center (21) · Ford Field (23) · Citrus Bowl (XXIV) · Reliant Stadium (XXV) · University of Phoenix Stadium (XXVI) · Georgia Dome (XXVII)