Good morning. This is LEADOFF, an early look at Atlanta sports.
Here's an update to our story last Sunday about the ongoing demolition of the Georgia Dome: The concrete lower seating bowl is going, going, gone.
Tens of thousands of lower-bowl and middle-bowl seats already had been removed as of our recent visit inside the doomed Dome, leaving expanses of scarred concrete. Plans called for the lower-bowl structure to be demolished this month, and that has happened, as evidenced by a new photo tweeted Thursday by Falcons parent company AMB Group senior vice president and chief communications officer Brett Jewkes.
Work began in earnest in June on deconstructing the Dome, the Falcons’ home of the past 25 years and also the site of two Super Bowls, three Final Fours, Olympic basketball/gymnastics and 1,456 events in all.
Most of the Georgia Dome’s interior will be demolished before implosion takes down the exterior walls and roof on Nov. 20.
Already, some windows have been knocked out, some interior walls torn down, utilities disconnected, suites gutted, all sorts of equipment removed.
Meanwhile, 86 feet away, Mercedes-Benz Stadium is scheduled to host its first football game on Aug. 26, a Falcons-Arizona Cardinals exhibition. Here’s the latest look at the new place:
Read these AJC exclusives about stadiums new and old:
A trip to the roof of Mercedes-Benz Stadium
A trip inside the under-demolition Georgia Dome
Matt Kempner’s column about the Mercedes-Benz Stadium roof
Suggested video:
