New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Superdome's post-Katrina rebuild brings pride to New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS -- When the manager of the Louisiana Superdome surveys the stadium's latest and most extensive renovation project, he finds himself thinking more about his city's hopeful future than its troubled recent past.

A six-year, $336 million, multiphase transformation of one of America's best-known sporting venues is nearly complete -- enough so that spectators will get to see the latest changes in person when the dome reopens this weekend, for the first time since last football season, to host the Essence music festival.

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"It doesn't look like the same building it did in 2005, that's for sure," said Doug Thornton, vice president of SMG, the company that manages the state-owned stadium.

During a recent stroll through a new, field-level bowl that now have most of its 24,500 seats in place, Thornton reflected on how much the Superdome had changed since Hurricane Katrina struck Aug. 29, 2005.

The storm tore open the roof and flooded surrounding streets, allowing mold to fester while tens of thousands of evacuees who had taken shelter in the stadium stewed in summer heat without air conditioning nor working bathrooms. Most evacuees milled around field-level stands, which have been deconstructed, removed and rebuilt atop a new steel support system as part of $50 million in work performed during the last five months.

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NFL.com news: Superdome's post-Katrina rebuild brings pride to New Orleans