Monday, April 06, 2009

Dallas Cowboys New Stadium: An Inside Look

You've heard about the Dallas Cowboys New Stadium and the superlatives of that structure: That it is the largest domed structure in the world and will seat 90 thousand. The stadium is scheduled for completion in May and insider sources say it's one busy place. Care to join me for a look around? (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Here's the stadium from a distance. The ends of the building will open and the roof is retractable. Let's go inside for a look around.


Here we're on the top row of seating, a seven-story climb up steps but we're only a third of the way to the roof. The screen-scoreboard there in the center, 5-stories high, dominates the view. The playing field is three stories below ground level.


Here's a look up at the retractable roof, an improvement on the original stadium in which the playing field was open to the sky. When it rained, people on the field got wet. I myself got rained on there. Ask me about it sometime. . .



Oh mercy me, I'm getting ahead of myself. Please allow me to introduce our guide, Dan. How we know each other is another story but here he is on the retractable roof.



Dan works for the Birdair, a contractor who specializes in tensile structures. And the retractable roof on the stadium is one such structure. Dan flew in from North Carolina two weeks ago to start on this roof.


The roof crew use large irons to activate the glue on the fabric. This fellow gives a thumbs-up as he presses on.




These motors open the retractable roof. What a relief that they're not operated by hand-cranks, eh? Boy howdy, this is one fancy schmancy operation.



Across the roof, we see Ranger Ballpark, home of the Texas Rangers. Beyond that toward the left is a roller coaster, part of Six Flags over Texas.


Well Dan, thank you so much for the tour and the photos. Dan's my brother, and to see what he's doing with himself, his life, his family - well, it's heroic. I'm as proud of him as if he were the star quarterback for the Cowboys. Not that he can get me any complimentary tickets or anything. But I plan to be in Dallas area soon and I hoping Dan will get me inside for a look around. Go Cowboys! Go Dan!

4 comments:

~~anna~~ said...

Nice tour! While that stadium is very impressive, I'll still be cheering for the Colts :)

~~anna~~ said...

Hope all is well with you! You've been in my thoughts and prayers lately.

~~anna~~ said...

Been a while since you posted. Hope all is well. Praying for you.

Unknown said...

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