Significant renovations to Superdome will include field-level fan boxes, improved concourses
The Mercedes-Benz Superdome already offers the New Orleans Saints one of the best home-stadium advantages in the NFL.
It’ll soon get a facelift that aims to make it a better facility for those fun-loving fans.
$450 million facelift coming
Via nola.com, the Superdome Commission, or the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, on Thursday revealed architectural renderings of the planned Superdome renovation, a $450 million facelift that will happen in multiple phases.
Work on the first phase will begin early in 2020, either after the College Football Championship on Jan. 13 or the NFC championship game on Jan. 19, if the stadium hosts that game.
It is expected to be completed by the start of the 2023-2024 season.
The first phase, which is estimated to cost as much as $100 million, is the “enabling phase,” involving work that fans and visitors to the facility largely won’t notice — putting in alternative exits before the Superdome’s 80,000-square foot ramp system located on the sidelines of the stadium are removed, and adding a large kitchen and food-service area in a current parking area.
The plan is to make these changes without disrupting the Saints’ season or other events held at the arena, like Essence Fest.
The features the public will see will follow, including three vertical atriums with escalators that move diagonally, end-zone field boxes and improved concourses. Removing the current ramps will open up the concourses, allowing for better food service opportunities and restrooms.
Under the terms of the financing deal between the state and the Saints, the Saints have agreed to fund a third of the project’s costs, or up to $150 million, and the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District will fund $210 million through issuing bonds. The state will cover the remaining $90 million if needed.
The Superdome is set to host Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 4, 2024.
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