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By Richard Pagliaro

© Natasha Peterson/Corleve

(November 15, 2010) The US Open is undergoing remodeling that will change the landscape of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The USTA is breaking ground on a new 3,000-seat mini-stadium next to its indoor facility. The new stadium could be completed in time for the 2011 or 2012 US Open. Louis Armstrong Stadium will eventually be torn down and rebuilt, but adding a roof to the 22,547-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium is unlikely because of the cost and the fact Ashe is built on a former ash dump and cannot support the weight of a conventional roof as currently constructed.

The estimated $300 million renovation, which was approved by the USTA Board of Directors last month, will not include a roof over any of the planned stadiums though the USTA reports the rebuilt Armstrong stadium will be "roof ready" according to a SportsBusiness Journal report written by Terry Lefton.

"We will continue over the next 10 years to research a roof over Arthur Ashe," USTA President Lucy Garvin told SportsBusiness Journal. "It remains technologically and financially challenging, but we are going to continue to research the technology that may allow for a roof."

The USTA has budgeted $30 million for the entire project, which is managed by architectural firm Rossetti, and may finance the rest through bonds.

The new Armstrong Stadium will not be built for another six to eight years as the USTA works out its financing for the NTC reconstruction. National Tennis Center Managing Director Danny Zausner told SportsBusiness Journal the project may well be funded as Ashe Stadium was financed "selling tax-exempt bonds through the Industrial Development Agency, a public bond conduit."

Among the plans for redevelopment:

  •  The current 10,200-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium, and the 6,100-seat Grandstand Court connected to it, will both be torn down. A new 10,000-15,000 Louis Armstrong Stadium will be built where the current Armstrong Stadium stands.
  • The new 3,000-seat mini stadium, designed to offer a more intimate view of matches, could be completed in 2011 or 2012 followed by another mini-stadium whose location has not yet been determined though it could be built where the current Grandstand Court stands.
  • Construction will begin to widen Arthur Ashe Stadium's upper levels to add more restrooms and concession stands.
  • The USTA hopes the new mini-stadium's location will divert pedestrian traffic and alleviate some current congestion that exists outside the stadiums and near the food court.

There has long been speculation the USTA, which prides the US Open on being the most progressive of the four majors, would consider adding a roof to Ashe. The USTA makes its big bucks from the corporate boxes in Ashe, so it will be interesting to see the scope of luxury boxes in the new Armstrong Stadium.

The fact remains the USTA is now committed to both expanding its recreational player base and developing professional players and throwing the estimated $150 million it would cost to cap Ashe Stadium with a roof that may be rarely used does not further either of those aims. Consider that before 2008, the last time rain forced a Monday men’s final was 1987 and before that 1974.

On the other hand, when you consider both the Australian Open and Wimbledon already have a roof over their center courts and the French Tennis Federation announced it plans to complete work on a retractable roof in time for the 2013 or 2014 French Open then the US Open, which has always prided itself on being the most progressive of the four majors, will be decidedly behind the times and exposed to the elements and continued criticism if it continues to bill itself as a world-class sporting event yet lacks the basic facility to fulfill its stated schedule.


The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center was built on landfill, as Flushing Meadows–Corona Park was once an ash dump. It is not certain Arthur Ashe Stadium, as currently constructed, could support the weight of a conventional roof (a retractable roof as Wimbledon has might be a different story though pursuing that evenue comes with its own challenges including climate control), unless the foundation of the stadium was strengthened. Additionally, Zausner told SBJ that Armstrong is also built on the landfill and likely cannot be bigger than 15,000 seats or it too would be unable to support the weight of a proposed roof.

When Ashe Stadium was initially constructed at a cost of $254 million in 1997, the question of constructing roof was raised, however USTA officials said then the additional cost of a roof did not make sense to add a roof given the Open is contested only two weeks out of the year. Had officials had the foresight to see the potential for Davis Cup matches, indoor exhibitions and non-tennis events including concerts and other sporting events, then perhaps they could have envisioned a multi-purpose facility with a roof that seated 16,000-17,000 fans, which conceivably could have kept construction costs down.


Though officials cannot admit it publicly, the bottom line is everyone is now paying the price for the short-sighted mistake the USTA made in initially green-lighting the monstrosity that is Arthur Ashe Stadium.


Given the fact there are several indoor arenas in the New York Area — Madison Square Garden, Nassau Coliseum, the Prudential Center
—there is now competition for hosting non-tennis events in the metropolitan area. Arthur Ashe Stadium once host an outdoor WNBA game and there were rumors the USTA had preliminary discussions about doing more events, but with the New Jersey Nets planning to move to a new state-of-the-art arena in Brooklyn, right across the Brooklyn Bridge from New York's City Hall, there will be multiple venues in the area in the coming years.

Rather than building a new roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, which is regarded as too big for tennis anyway, the USTA plans to make the new Armstrong Stadium "roof ready" which means eventually adding a roof to it would be easier and less expensive than trying to cap Ashe.

While a smaller Armstrong Stadium with a roof would presumably provide better sight lines for fans if the new Armstrong is 8,000 to 10,000 seats smaller than Ashe then how would the USTA accommodate all ticket holds in Ashe if a match was rained out and moved indoors?

The USTA recently spent $60 million to build a 245,000 square foot indoor building on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center that opened in December of 2008. The new construction project is estimated to cost five times more.

On a visit to the NTC yesterday, a fence has been erected right outside the East Gate.

 

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