Quote:
Originally Posted by Guiltyspark
Many of them were ugly, boring and cookie-cutter with no character. In my neck of the woods the Silverdome was replaced by Ford Field, which is objectively a much better stadium.
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Part of my fascination with these types of structures is the fact that even if they were ugly or boring, they were, with limited exceptions, 100% functional and useful, and perfectly capable of hosting the events for which they were designed. The Silverdome, for example, would still be completely capable of hosting a NFL team today.
Let's face it, the Orlando Arena and the Silverdome weren't replaced because they didn't meet the needs of the fans. As a fan, you buy a ticket, show up and watch sports... the venue is merely a backdrop to what is taking place on the field, the court or the ice. Even if a place like the Metrodome is a little boring, it's hard to make sense of demolishing a $100 million dollar facility to replace it with a $1 billion dollar facility on that basis alone.
These venues were replaced, in most cases, at significant public expense, because they simply didn't meet the business needs of the owners. How else do you explain shutting down a 13-year old sports venue like the Pyramid in Memphis?