Mercedes-Benz Stadium is destined to become one of the best and most visually striking stadiums in sports when it finally opens. When the stadium will open, however, is starting to become a talking point, as the date has been pushed back again to Aug. 26.
The $1.6 billion-stadium, designed by HOK, was originally planned to open on March 1, 2017. Since that time the opening has been delayed three times to June 1, 2017, then to July 30, 2017, and more recently (and hopefully finally) to Aug. 26, 2017.
Originally, it was thought the delays were related to issues with getting the unique retractable roof to work correctly. While retractable roofs aren’t new to sports stadiums, most slide open like a large garage door. The roof of Mercedes-Benz Stadium takes a more complicated approach and opens in a circular motion, more closely resembling a blooming flower than a garage door.
Steve Cannon, CEO of AMB Group, the stadium’s owner, addressed concerns about the roof in a statement after the most recent delay. “No concerns about the operability of the roof have ever been expressed to us by the design or construction teams,” Cannon said in the statement.
Cannon went on to explain the reason for the delays. “Normal surveying and analysis of the roof structure, as well as steelwork in the roof, have both taken longer than planned. Those two things have had a cascading effect on overall workflows related to the roof, and that is the reason for the new timeline.”
The 71,000-seat stadium will be home to the Atlanta Falcons and the Atlanta United. It will also host the NCAA Peach Bowl and the Celebration Bowl. The stadium will host Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3, 2019.
HOK collaborated on the design with tvsdesign, Goode Van Slyke Architecture, and Stanley Beaman & Sears. BuroHappold Engineering and Hoberman Associates handled structural engineer duties for the project.
Related Stories
| Mar 25, 2011
Qatar World Cup may feature carbon-fiber ‘clouds’
Engineers at Qatar University’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering are busy developing what they believe could act as artificial “clouds,” man-made saucer-type structures suspended over a given soccer stadium, working to shield tens of thousands of spectators from suffocating summer temperatures that regularly top 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
| Mar 11, 2011
University of Oregon scores with new $227 million basketball arena
The University of Oregon’s Matthew Knight Arena opened January 13 with a men’s basketball game against USC where the Ducks beat the Trojans, 68-62. The $227 million arena, which replaces the school’s 84-year-old McArthur Court, has a seating bowl pitched at 36 degrees to replicate the close-to-the-action feel of the smaller arena it replaced, although this new one accommodates 12,364 fans.
| Mar 11, 2011
Community sports center in Nashville features NCAA-grade training facility
A multisport community facility in Nashville featuring a training facility that will meet NCAA Division I standards is being constructed by St. Louis-based Clayco and Chicago-based Pinnacle.
| Mar 11, 2011
Slam dunk for the University of Nebraska’s basketball arena
The University of Nebraska men’s and women’s basketball programs will have a new home beginning in 2013. Designed by the DLR Group, the $344 million West Haymarket Civic Arena in Lincoln, Neb., will have 16,000 seats, suites, club amenities, loge, dedicated locker rooms, training rooms, and support space for game operations.
| Feb 23, 2011
London 2012: What Olympic Park looks like today
London 2012 released a series of aerial images that show progress at Olympic Park, including a completed roof on the stadium (where seats are already installed), tile work at the aquatic centre, and structural work complete on more than a quarter of residential projects at Olympic Village.
| Jan 21, 2011
Sustainable history center exhibits Fort Ticonderoga’s storied past
Fort Ticonderoga, in Ticonderoga, N.Y., along Lake Champlain, dates to 1755 and was the site of battles in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The new $20.8 million, 15,000-sf Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center pays homage to the French magasin du Roi (the King’s warehouse) at the fort.
| Jan 20, 2011
Houston Dynamo soccer team plans new venue
Construction is scheduled to begin this month on a new 22,000-seat Major League Soccer stadium for the Houston Dynamo. The $60 million project is expected to be ready for the 2012 MLS season.
| Jan 20, 2011
Construction begins on second St. Louis community center
O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex in St. Louis, designed by local architecture/engineering firm KAI Design & Build, will feature an indoor aquatic park with interactive water play features, a lazy river, water slides, laps lanes, and an outdoor spray and multiuse pool.