D.C. United opened their new $400 million stadium, which received $183 million in public subsidies, yesterday, and I know what your first question is: Was anyone injured when part of the brand-new facility fell off and hit them? Oh, were they ever:
The director of communications and sideline reporter for D.C. United was hit by a falling railing at Audi Field ahead of the brand new stadium’s inaugural match.
ABC7’s Kevin Lewis reported that the railing hit the team’s reporter Lindsay Simpson not long before D.C. United took on the Vancouver Whitecaps Saturday at 8 p.m. in their first game in their new stadium.
That’s embarrassing, but you know, one fluke accident can happen anywhere, so—
Pablo Maurer of MLSSoccer.com says there were multiple incidents of railings falling during the game. Lewis says staffers were later seen around the stadium securing railings with duct tape.
So they’ve had a couple of incidents here at the stadium where sections of railing have fallen – in one incident someone got struck by falling debris. They’ve resorted to duct tape as a temp fix. pic.twitter.com/mgPtckTL4x
— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) July 15, 2018
Oh, man.
The railings will undoubtedly be fixed, and the duct tape will be retired, and soccer will go on as normal for the team. But next time there’s some mishap at an older stadium, before buying the claims that “it’s falling apart, we need a new one,” remember that new ones can fall apart sometimes too.
Duct tape … the handyman’s secret weapon.
If you can’t fix it, duct it.
Need a newer stadium already. This one is falling apart.
Meet the new stadium, same as the old stadium.
The railings were built with the private money, while other parts of the stadium were built with the stronger, public money. The obvious lesson is that ALL parts of the stadium must be built with public money.
Watched this game on tv. The stadium itself was not featured heavily, but the few crowd and stand shots I did see were pretty disappointing from an appeal/architectural standpoint.
For a purpose built stadium costing as much (or more) than LAFC’s fantastic new facility, it looked like something built in small sections by 100 different farmers who weren’t allowed to talk to each other or look at actual blueprints.
Curious to know if anyone posting was at the game and can comment more directly on the overall look of the facility?
I don’t see how the stadium rates as anything but a disappointment, given that it’s architectural style is something akin to “19th Century English Randomness” like Anfield or some other crumbling piles that somehow host major sporting events in the 21st century. For all the fanfare, DC now has a soccer stadium that could be even harder to get to than the last one. We can hope that the “neighborhood feel” will give some charm, but it seems rather exposed for summer games in DC.
What if they built a roof out of duct tape?
Tarps would probably be more in keeping with the style. Or maybe a huge awning.
That would be hard to pull off with just duct tape. You’d need some PVC tubing, or at least a whole lot of tongue depressors and pipe cleaners.