West End Stadium, the future home of FC Cincinnati, was recently unveiled by the team’s ownership group. The $250 million, Populous-deigned stadium will feature “an interpretation of Cincinnati on the rise.”
The stadium will have a final seating capacity of between 26,000 and 26,500 with a 360-degree canopy roof that will cover every seat in the stadium. The stadium’s exterior will feature 513 vertical fins that form a wave-like external structure and enclose the stadium. Custom LED lighting on each fin will help the stadium appear to glow when lit for evening events.
The fins will each have custom LED lighting and a lighting system that will allow for unique motion sequences to be displayed on the stadium’s east-facing façade. The western façade will have a more traditional glass aesthetic to smooth the transition into the surrounding neighborhood.
The 26,000+ seats will be arranged around a 110-yard by 75-yard field, with 4,500 of the seats being labeled as “premium” and another 3,100 will be safe-standing seats. There will be a total of 59 suites, including two party suites and three field-level suites, which will be the most in any MLS venue that does not also host an NFL team. The upper mezzanine is pitched at 34 degrees, so the farthest seat in the stadium is only 130 feet from the field (with the closest seat being 15 feet from the field).
A total of six entrances will usher fans into the stadium and The Grand Staircase, which rises 30 feet from Central Parkway, will be the main entrance. Mercy Plaza, located in the southeast corner of the stadium, will provide an acre of visible, accessible community programming space between the West End and Over-the-Rhine neighborhoods.
See Also: Arenas on campuses aren’t just for sports anymore
The stadium is slated to open in March 2021.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Dream Fields, Lone Star Style
How important are athletic programs to U.S. school districts? Here's one leading indicator: In 2005, the National Football League sold 17 million tickets. That same year, America's high schools sold an estimated 225 million tickets to football games, according to the American Football Coaches Association.
| Aug 11, 2010
Giants 300 University Report
University construction spending is 13% higher than a year ago—mostly for residence halls and infrastructure on public campuses—and is expected to slip less than 5% over the next two years. However, the value of starts dropped about 10% in recent months and will not return to the 2007–08 peak for about two years.
| Aug 11, 2010
Nurturing the Community
The best seat in the house at the new Seahawks Stadium in Seattle isn't on the 50-yard line. It's in the southeast corner, at the very top of the upper bowl. "From there you have a corner-to-corner view of the field and an inspiring grasp of the surrounding city," says Kelly Kerns, project leader with architect/engineer Ellerbe Becket, Kansas City, Mo.
| Aug 11, 2010
Financial Wizardry Builds a Community
At 69 square miles, Vineland is New Jersey's largest city, at least in geographic area, and it has a rich history. It was established in 1861 as a planned community (well before there were such things) by the utopian Charles Landis. It was in Vineland that Dr. Thomas Welch found a way to preserve grape juice without fermenting it, creating a wine substitute for church use (the town was dry).
| Aug 11, 2010
Integrated Project Delivery builds a brave, new BIM world
Three-dimensional information, such as that provided by building information modeling, allows all members of the Building Team to visualize the many components of a project and how they work together. BIM and other 3D tools convey the idea and intent of the designer to the entire Building Team and lay the groundwork for integrated project delivery.
| Aug 11, 2010
Bronze Award: Alumni Gymnasium Renovation, Dartmouth College Hanover, N.H.
At a time when institutions of higher learning are spending tens of millions of dollars erecting massive, cutting-edge recreation and fitness centers, Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., decided to take a more modest, historical approach. Instead of building an ultra-grand new facility, the university chose to breathe new life into its landmark Alumni Gymnasium by transforming the outdated 99-y...
