Tag: Georgia Dome

Georgia Dome’s Faults Lead to Mercedes-Benz Stadium

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The Georgia Dome is the largest indoor venue available in the state of Georgia. It is located in the heart of Downtown Atlanta and is a premier key to Downtown Atlanta’s economic and tourism success. Since September 6, 1992 the Georgia Dome has been standing and serving as a host for live music concerts, conventions, sports events, and even Monster Truck rallies. The Dome is broken into multiple levels: the floor, club level, the suites, and the upper level seating. The higher up in the building, the lower the ticket prices (excluding box seating). The layout of the site separates those who pay more to watch an event from those who pay less. For instance, those who purchase tickets to view an event from the upper level cannot access food options on the club (second) level. This is unfair because the food options are the exact same building wide, while also helpful because sometimes celebrities may be seated in the club level and suites and do not want to mingle with such large amounts of people.

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A rendering of the proposed Mercedes-Benz Stadium taken from mercedesbenzstadium.com

The Georgia Dome is open and easy to navigate as long as the tickets you bought were the most expensive. Suite level tickets also come with access to things around the entire venue whereas third level guests cannot access things other than the first floor and their level. The large walkways prevent clusters of people and gathering which creates for easy access and quick and safe evacuation if necessary. To also increase ease of access and safe evacuation the Georgia Dome and it’s workers promote the use of the large ramps instead of the escalators or elevators. The use of these ramps by patrons also greatly reduces the amount of electricity used by the venue. Even though this venue is well fit, it could use minor renovations. To combat the possible reoccurring renovations, it was decided that a new stadium, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, would be built next door, and the Dome will be revamped into a massive parking structure.

Georgia Dome’s Roof: Tired but True

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The Georgia Dome is covered by fabric sheets connected and supported by aluminum cables. Because the roof is over 20 years old, the costs for maintenance to the roof due to old age and withstanding Georgia’s sometimes turbulent weather, a new stadium will be built. The Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be covered by a similar roof except it will be retractable as to allow for hosting a wide array of events year-round.

Georgia Dome’s Sound System, A Costworthy Experience

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This sound clip showcases the sound system used at the Georgia Dome. The Georgia Dome in 2010 replaced the sound system the building was originally equipped with in 1992. This portion of renovation cost over $3 million to complete. The $3 million covered installation costs, and the costs of the 100+ speakers and amplifiers which were put into place.

Creating Raving Fans: Georgia Dome’s Employees

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At the Georgia Dome the event staff are a hard working team of over 2,000, working to provide a great experience to the patrons. The employees work and take care of things such as crowd management, ticket taking, showing guests to their seats, event security, traffic control, and consulting. Employees are paid $7.50 an hour with no benefits and do not make enough to live off of the infrequent paychecks.

Taylor Swift Brings Down the Dome Without Bulldozers

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IMG_1567Taylor Swift, known for her transition from country music’s princess to one of the most powerful females in pop music sold out the Georgia Dome for her Atlanta show during the North American Leg of tour. Over 56,000 tickets were sold to a diverse crowd of different ages and races. To create a floor to seat so many people the Dome covers the field with plastic tarp and then lay down over 6,000 ply wood sheets. The stage and seating are then placed above it.

From a Grassy Field to a Pit of Dirt: Monster Jam 2016 at the GA Dome

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This picture was photographed at the Georgia Dome on March 5, 2016. The picture depicts what is known as the “Pit Party” where event goers at Monster Jam can go into the pit and view and interact with the Monster Trucks and drivers before the show. The photo was taken from the club level section of the IMG_1574Georgia Dome. This section is known for the “Club/Mezz Split” which splits patrons with club level tickets from patrons with Mezzanine seating. The Mezzanine patrons pay less than club ticket patrons who have access to eateries that the Mezzanine patrons cannot purchase from due to the fact that they cannot be let into the Verizon Wireless club. From the Verizon Wireless club, the executive suites can be accessed and patrons can also purchase exclusive food and souvenirs.

“Georgia Senate Gives OK to Super Bowl Tax Breaks”

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Salzer, James. “Key Georgia Senate Panel Gives OK to Super Bowl, Shopping Tax Breaks.” AJC. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2 Mar. 2016. Web. 6 Mar. 2016. <http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/key-georgia-senate-panel-gives-ok-to-super-bowl-sh/nqcNQ/>.

Because the Atlanta Falcons invested in building the new Mercedes-Benz stadium which cost over $1.5 billion, they put in a bid to the NFL to be considered to host the Superbowl. In efforts to further persuade the NFL, Governor Nathan Deal, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and the Atlanta Sports Council proposed a bill to the Georgia Senate to have sales taxes on tickets to the big game waived. Tax breaks in the past have proven beneficial to our city as they have often created jobs and generated plenty of business for retail stores. The Georgia House and Senate assessed the pros and cons of offering tax breaks on super bowl tickets and found that it would cost the state and city $10 million but having the game in Atlanta would bring in over $400 million as estimated by economists. Because this bill is so broad it could also cover large sporting events such as Final Four games. This bill will possibly allow the city to have more economic growth and prowess through tax breaks on Superbowl tickets.

“Demolition of Georgia Dome Scheduled for 2017”

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Tucker, Tim. “Demolition of Georgia Dome Scheduled for 2017.” AJC. The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 30 Jan. 2016. Web. 06 Mar. 2016. <http://www.myajc.com/news/sports/football/plans-in-works-to-decommission-the-dome/nqFFh/>.

Recently it was decided that the Mercedes-Benz Stadium will not be opened for business for an additional 3 months after the original date intended. Because it had been previously decided that the dome will close in March of 2017, local vendors and employees of the Dome are worried about not working for three months as the new stadium’s opening date is not June 2017. The construction company in charge of the Dome’s demolition stated that in order to have the significant amount of parking needed for the new stadium’s large attendance, they need to begin the implosion as soon as possible. The takedown of the dome is predicted to take from 6 to 7 months, which would not be in time for the 2017 NFL season. The parking decks would not be prepared in time due because of the time it takes to build such massive parking structures to hold such weights and the MARTA tracks that are so close. This opening date push back and not opening of the dome during the over lapped dates will mean that the Atlanta soccer team will not be playing in their new stadium or the Georgia dome for the first three months of their first ever season. Conclusively, there has been no revisiting of the demolition date of the Georgia Dome and it can potentially backfire locals and their sports teams.