Architects: Heery International; Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates
Rosser Fabrap International, Inc.; Williams-Russell and Johnson, Inc.
Roof Structural Engineers: Weidlinger Associates
Opened in 1992, the Georgia Dome is home to the Atlanta Falcons, and like the Minneapolis Metrodome,
its origins lay in a sports franchise's threat to leave Atlanta for a city that would offer a more profitable stadium.
The state of Georgia had been trying to establish Atlanta as the convention center of the south
in any case, and Governor Joe Frank Harris supported the idea of building a multipurpose arena that could
both accommodate the Falcons' needs and add to the 2.5 million square feet of existing exhibition space
in downtown Atlanta. A complex funding package ($14 million for the site, and $174.5 million for the
building) included city, county, and state contributions and avoided incurring any direct taxpayer
liability by relying on industrial revenue bonds and monies raised from an increase in hotel/motel tax in
Atlanta and surrounding areas.
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