The much-delayed opening of the Atlanta Falcons‘ new stadium, originally set for this past March, has been delayed again, this time to a preseason game on August 26. The stated reason? Building a retractable roof that operates like no other roof before turns out to be hard!
[Falcons CEO Steve] Cannon said the latest delay disclosed Tuesday was driven by “steel work that is taking longer than we anticipated” in the roof and an analysis of the construction timeline from this point forward.
He said AMB Group’s expectation is that the roof will be fully operable when the stadium opens.
But Cannon acknowledged that the eight roof petals have required some extra work to make them fit.
“You install a shim that closes a gap or addresses a gap,” he said. “So yes, there was a shimming process that took place, normal seal work on a project of this size and complexity. We have completed all of that work. … It went very well. And now we’re moving on.”
The latest delay means that three Atlanta United games have had to be moved (one to Georgia Tech’s stadium, two to later dates) and demolition of the Georgia Dome has been delayed just in case the Falcons need to play some games there. Not that they’re going to have to do that, heaven forfend, the stadium will absolutely be open by August 26 — just like before it was absolutely going to be open by March 1, and then June 1, and then July 30. It’s also always possible the stadium might open without a fully functional roof at first — that’s happened before, after all, though the Falcons owners might not like reminding of that particular precedent.
I would guess a 21st century roof in Atlanta would have fewer natural challenges than 1970s roof in Quebec, but then again I bailed out of engineering after two weeks of drafting class.
I hope there’s a torrential summer storm in August. When there’re gaps that need shimming and sealing there will be leaks. Might as well find out early.
This would probably be a good spot for a commercial for one of those fly by night roofing guys advertising on Judge Judy
An iris…. that’s like the Eye of Sauron, right?
I do like the fact locals are calling this the Sphincter Dome. I hope that sticks.