Mercedes-Benz Stadium workers plan to open roof Sunday
About 12 hours after the end of Saturday night’s Falcons-Cardinals exhibition game, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium construction team will be back at work on the retractable roof.
The plan is to open the roof Sunday to continue adjusting and measuring its mechanization.
Then the roof is scheduled to be returned to the closed position days before Thursday’s Falcons-Jaguars exhibition game, the stadium’s second event.
The roof was closed for Saturday’s game, as it will be for all events in the stadium until mechanization work is completed. Stadium officials have said they expect to be able to open the roof for a Falcons game at some point this season, but they don’t know when. Indications are it will be October at the earliest.
Sunday’s planned move will mark the fifth time the roof has been moved – “Construction Move 5,” stadium officials call it. Rather than in 12 minutes — the time it is ultimately supposed to take to open or close the roof — these moves have required required hours or even days, nowhere near fast enough for decisions based on game-day weather.
So efforts will continue to get the roof automated and up to speed.
“It’ll be good to do,” Falcons president and CEO Rich McKay said of Sunday’s roof move. “Another construction move, (more) measurement and another step closer.”
He said the plan is to return the roof to the closed position Monday.
Click here for more on the status of the retractable roof.
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About the Author
Tim Tucker, a long-time AJC sports reporter, often writes about the business side of the games. He also had stints as the AJC's Braves beat writer, UGA beat writer, sports notes columnist and executive sports editor. He was deputy managing editor of America's first all-sports newspaper, The National Sports Daily.
