Superdome pays off big for New Orleans
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans is busy these days. Restaurant reservations are hard to get, hotels are booked solid, the French Quarter is crowded — all thanks to the Louisiana Superdome.
The 32-year-old stadium was rushed back into business just a year after Hurricane Katrina ripped off its roof as thousands of storm victims huddled inside.
A sometimes solitary emblem of the city’s recovery, it nonetheless has been a force in revitalizing New Orleans’ economy.
Three bowl games within a month — the New Orleans Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Monday night’s Bowl Championship Series title game — will pump an estimated $500 million into the area’s economy, University of New Orleans economist Janet Speyrer said.
The benefits could be longer lasting, said Mary Beth Romig, spokeswoman for the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“When you can have national television audience as we did in that first Saints game against Atlanta (September 2006) or the BCS game, it’s hard to put any kind of dollar figure on that. The shots of the city they use, discussions about New Orleans, all of that adds up to present a very positive image.”
Its an ironic payback, considering many thought the stadium could not or should not be restored after Katrina, and the owner of the New Orleans Saints for years had called it outmoded.
When the storm struck Aug. 29, 2005, an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 people took refuge in the Superdome. The roof ripped open, and wind-driven rain poured inside, creating massive damage.
With the city in ruins, there was debate over saving the building. Was it wise to spend millions on the Superdome amid so many pressing needs?
Within weeks, analysis by engineers and architects showed the Superdome was structurally sound. Debate ended as the largest stadium reconstruction project ever attempted in the United States — at a cost of $193 million — was begun.
The first phase was completed in less than seven months. The Saints homecoming against the Falcons on Sept. 25, 2006, focused attention on the plight of the city, which outside the stadium’s restored confines was suffering mightily.
The Superdome is now in the third phase of the planned renovation. The total upgrade, including replacing the exterior “skin” and installation of windows, should be completed by August.
Paul Hoolahan, chief executive of the Sugar Bowl, said visitors were astonished when they saw the building.
“Even those who remember it from before Katrina are amazed by the shape it’s in,” he said.
Hoolahan rates the Superdome above the Georgia Dome and the equal of any stadium he’s seen.
“I have been to enough NFL stadiums to say that I don’t think we back up to anyone in terms of amenities and facilities,” Hoolahan said. “There are some who think there is an issue with the sight lines in some places. I personally don’t feel that. It’s an amazing building.”
The Saints — coming off two sellout seasons for the first time ever — have committed to stay in New Orleans at least until their incentive-rich Superdome lease runs out after the 2010 season.
The current agreement — a $186.5 million contract — was negotiated in 2001 by former Gov. Mike Foster’s administration and involves annual payments to the team on top of other subsidies through 2010.
The payments began at $12.5 million a year and grow to $23.5 million this year. They include a share of concession earnings, a piece of local tax income and outright cash.
During the last negotiations, team owner Tom Benson called the Superdome outmoded and complained that he could not sell the seats nearest the roof. He commissioned drawings of a stadium he said should be built for him by the state’s taxpayers.
Many post-Katrina improvements increased Benson’s profit, said Dome spokesman Bill Curl. Club seating has been upgraded, allowing the Saints to charge more for those tickets. Concession stands have been made more efficient so they can dispense more beer and Superdogs.
The question is whether the upgrades are sufficient to save the stadium in the long term.
Benson has said he wants all events hosted now hosted by the Superdome to go to his new stadium, which certainly would boost his bottom line.
It would also leave the city’s most vibrant building with little reason to exist.
