Monday, December 22, 2008

Dome or Retractable Roof? You Make The Call

Birmingham residents should turn their attention north to Indianapolis if they want to see how our city's stadium of the future should take shape.

The 24-year-old RCA Dome, the former home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL team, was imploded Saturday to make room for additional convention space.

You can check out a story and video about the implosion here. It involves lots of dusts and explosions, but that's what happens to massive structures that become obsolete in less than a quarter of a century.

And what has replaced the RCA Dome as home for the Colts. Why, spanking new Lucas Oil Stadium, which features a . . . retractable roof.

HOK Inc. of Kansas City, Missouri, has been chosen as architect for the Birmingham facility, and HOK officials say a retractable roof would add only about $30 million to a project that is expected to cost between $450 and $500 million.

Should Birmingham go with a fixed-roof dome, which will be obsolete the minute it is finished? Or should it go with a retractable roof, which will put the facility in step with the latest in multipurpose facilities?

From here, seems like a pretty easy question to answer

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