Say what you want but even with the recent renovations theDome is light years behind other stadiums in the NFL. Instead of using band aids here and seats there I think we need to spend some real money. Gut the dome and start from scratch on the interior. Add a retractable roof and more seats and sky boxes. Yes the draw is the city itself but a state of the art facility would be a draw and get us more future SB bids. I feel like a state of the art dome paired with the city itself would put us in the running for the Super Bowl just about every year which would offset some of the costs over time. Leave the exterior alone except for the roof.

Say what you want but even with the recent renovations theDome is light years behind other stadiums in the NFL. Instead of using band aids here and seats there I think we need to spend some real money. Gut the dome and start from scratch on the interior. Add a retractable roof and more seats and sky boxes. Yes the draw is the city itself but a state of the art facility would be a draw and get us more future SB bids. I feel like a state of the art dome paired with the city itself would put us in the running for the Super Bowl just about every year which would offset some of the costs over time. Leave the exterior alone except for the roof.

This is a good post and I like the discussion, even though I don't wholly agree with you Dude -- I think the Dome still rocks and has some life in her yet.

But I just wanted to point out to the group, in this discussion, I am pretty sure that it's been talked about before; but from what I've heard, I believe it's impossible to renovate the current Dome with a retractable roof, because of the way it's designed, and the weight, the shape and load bearing of the sides or walls....it couldn't be done with the structure that's there....I think I heard this years ago from one of the old architects at Curtis & Davis. From what I understand, it would have to basically be a whole new structure (whole new sides and walls) on the same site, if you wanted to do a retractable roof. It's an engineering thing.

What would be pretty cool is if they would build a new dome on the same spot with al the modern hoopla and a retractable roof that still looks like the old dome.

Domes do not have retractable roofs, those are stadiums, a dome doesn't leave you with a place for the roof to retract to, unless it functions like a camera shutter and that would be expensive as hell, along with being an architectural feat to make it withstand hurricanes.

We just hosted a SuperBowl and other than an ENTERGY failure, friends and business associates all commented on how excellent the amenities and the Dome were...

In fact several were under the impression the Dome had been re-built after Katrina - as in a totally new building, structure - and how nice the New Dome was...

So this behind the times stuff holds no weight...

Electronics (Bells, Whistles) may need to be updated every five-ten years (usually by the time they're installed they're outdated anyways); but the structure itself in no way needs to be replaced...

it is time the old girl has done a great job but it is time to move on

Ok, where's the dislike button around here :P