They nuked the team... for this?

[DrungoHazewood]

I suspect you realized I wasn't being particularly serious about putting the field on rollers. Having a natural grass playing surface is only part of the attractiveness of having an open air stadium; the greater advantage is enhancing the experience of the fans by exposing them to the elements -- just not too much exposure.

On a serious note, the more weight you're moving, the more robust the engineering solution needs to be.

The lightest weight solution would be something akin to the Tampa sail, but it still has to be robust enough to withstand gale force winds. Having the sail or its supporting tower collapse onto the stands wouldn't be very amusing to anyone who happened to still be in the stands at the time.

Decide to make the roof move and the weight increases somewhat exponentially, especially if the seal between roof and stadium needs to be relatively air tight to facilitate economical air conditioning.

Move the whole stadium (playing surface, stands, rest rooms, and concession areas) and the total weight would undoubtedly be impractically high.

Again, you're dismissing the value of a fleet of Zeppelins used for structural support. Or placing the stadium on a planet with weaker gravity.

One of my gripes with the new stadium in St. Louis is that they made no allowance for the possible addition of a roof at some later date. I've attended a couple of games there; at the second one, my wife insisted on departing before the seventh inning because the heat was getting to her. One of the other women in our party did suffer a heat injury. In St. Louis, during the dog days of August, shade from the sun becomes even more important than protecting the field from the rain.

Yet I recognize that it could have been cost prohibitive to design the stadium in such a way that a roof could have been added later, and it definitely would have had significant architectural impacts.

Bottom line is that, until we can afford one of the air conditioned luxury suites, we probably won't plan to attend any more home games in St. Louis during the month of August.

I never quite understood why American sports facilities don't have big roofs over the stands like most European soccer stadiums. It's not a perfect solution, but it certainly protects people from more sun and rain than the little roofs that cover most baseball parks' upper decks. Probably has something to do with HOK's obsession with eliminating obstructing supports and putting the upper tiers of the stadium way, way back from the action.

St. Louis probably didn't consider a roof because retractable roofs make the park look like a UFO, and permanent roofs make for a crappy place to play baseball.

[byrdz]

Probably has something to do with HOK's obsession with eliminating obstructing supports and putting the upper tiers of the stadium way, way back from the action.

But as you can see in the ManU stadium, it's possible to support the roof overhangs from the top, no obstructions. It looks as though they build them with lightweight materials as well, transparent even, which aid in lightening the load and letting light through for the fan. In England I'm guessing they don't typically have an issue with hot, humid sunny days but I could be wrong. I could see this being used and on hot sunny days some barrier being drawn to shield the sun. If you don't like the structure holding the overhangs then it can be wrap in panels of some sort. Only issue is that it doesn't have that retro feel but I think it's a great design otherwise.

[Pedro Cerrano]

I think it looks kinda cool.

It's good they will have a retractable roof down there for the awful humidity. I dunno, I guess I never really minded the "modern" looking stadiums (although I do prefer the throwback style better).

[Migrant Redbird]

Again, you're dismissing the value of a fleet of Zeppelins used for structural support. Or placing the stadium on a planet with weaker gravity.

I never quite understood why American sports facilities don't have big roofs over the stands like most European soccer stadiums. It's not a perfect solution, but it certainly protects people from more sun and rain than the little roofs that cover most baseball parks' upper decks. Probably has something to do with HOK's obsession with eliminating obstructing supports and putting the upper tiers of the stadium way, way back from the action.

Many balllparks used to have partial roofs, usually over the grandstands. As the photo with this article on Busch Stadium I (Sportsmans Park) illustrates, both levels of the left field grandstands were protected from the afternoon sun. In Busch Stadium II, large segments of the right field stands were protected from the afternoon sun and the upper one third of the lower deck all the way around the stadium was protected from rain and sun by the upper deck. Busch III provides relatively smaller areas under the 2nd and 3rd level decks that are protected from the sun.

Of course, the degree of protection from the sun varies according to the time of day, so it's a little difficult to assess from a photo.

St. Louis probably didn't consider a roof because retractable roofs make the park look like a UFO, and permanent roofs make for a crappy place to play baseball.

Those are both good reasons, but I suspect that cost was a greater factor.

[Nite]

I think the Marlins can draw ok with a new stadium as long as the stadium is in a better location than Dolphins Stadium. I've never been down to Miami, but I hear the location of the stadium is HORRIBLE for everyone living in the area. I'm also told Miami isn't like normal cities with a city and suburbs around it on all sides. Obviously not the case because the Ocean is on two sides of it? Either way I'm told a new location it's self should help get 5-10k more people to the stadium. Now you're looking at 20-25k consistent and that's enough to support a team. When they win you sell out naturally...

Bottom line is I hear anyways the reason Miami struggles for attendance is because their stadiums/arenas are just located in HORRIBLE locations and no one wants to go. Basically imagine if the Nats played where the Skins do now but Washington is where Baltimore is so now you had to drive 30 min out into the boonies to see a ball game. Then when it was over you had to go home right away because there is 0 city life in Landover....