Wednesday, March 29, 2000

Stadium's signature: A Swoosh

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Decorative, lighted canopy will top structure

BY DAN KLEPAL
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The steel grid around the top of Paul Brown Stadium will soon be covered with a fabric canopy. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        Soon there will be a swoosh to the stadium. The signature on Paul Brown Stadium will be signed in a brown fabric — two pieces of arching canopy that run atop the upper deck on each side, looking like huge space-age boomerangs.

        Crews have been working for months to mount the 750 tons of steel to the football stadium's upper deck, which will hold the canopy in place. The steel also will secure a catwalk, lights and a portion of the stadium's sound system.

        But it is the canopy, made of a Teflon-coated fiberglass called Sheerfill, that will distinguish Paul Brown Stadium from others around the country, architect Ron Turner said.

        “The stadium sits apart from the city and we felt it should be very sculptural looking,” said Mr. Turner, a principal with NBBJ Architects.

        “We took that notion and created a piece that has motion to it,” Mr. Turner said. “It's going to be a pretty dramatic and beautiful look.”

Model shows the canopy lighted for effect. | ZOOM |

Aerial view of stadium construction looking north from river. | ZOOM |

There is some functional value to the canopy — it will protect a few thousand people in the upper deck from rain, sun and snow.

        But mostly, it just looks cool.

        There will be a continuous bank of lights hidden beneath the canopy, making the fabric glow at night to people on the outside (or cameras in a blimp).

        Mr. Turner said the canopy will give the stadium “iconic value” and will glow even on nights when the stadium is empty.

        “With minimal lighting, we'll have the roof glow at night even when there isn't an event,” Mr. Turner said. “And we'll have some lighting around the building itself that will keep the stadium animated.”

        The $5.7 million canopy — which includes the steel — is a relatively small job for Tom Wuerch, who will oversee its installation.

        Mr. Wuerch works for Birdair, which has installed the same material as the roof of the Georgia Dome, the Millennium Dome in London and over the Great Hall at the Denver International Airport. His company also will use the fabric as the roof over the new football stadium in Houston.

        All those buildings have one thing in common: The canopy was used to make an architectural statement.

        “Architects can do a lot of wild things, like making peaks and valleys or bending it around things, that you can't do with conventional steel,” Mr. Wuerch said.

Project manager Dan Streyle displays Teflon-coated fiberglass that wioll turn white after installation. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        The canopy at Paul Brown Stadium will look flat to fans, but actually will be tilted a bit to the rear so rain drains off into a gutter.

        It will be about 70 feet wide in the center and taper off to about 45 feet wide on the ends, which will jut out beyond the edges of the seating bowl.

        Mr. Wuerch said the fabric is brown when it goes up but will turn white after being bleached by the sun for a few months. And because it's Teflon-coated, like a frying pan, dirt and grime won't stick to it, he said.

        The stadium's swoosh will be cleaned with every rainfall.

        “It has a unique shape, curving in two different directions and wrapping around the bowl,” Mr. Wuerch said.

        The high steel work to hold the canopy in place is nearly done. It was a tricky and dangerous job.

        Project manager Dan Streyle said the steel was shipped in 40-foot sections, lifted with cranes and welded into place by workers at the top of the stadium.

        The smooth curve to the steel made each piece unique and difficult to manufacture. They had to be cut to within a one-sixteenth of an inch in order to work.

        “There is a science to erecting high steel,” Mr. Streyle said. “It's very difficult to make sure everything stays vertical, and it becomes a constant process of checking and bracing the steel so each piece goes together.”

        Construction crews will have a topping-off party Thursday, when the steel work on the west side of the stadium is completed.

        That means one of the huge tower cranes that have dominated the horizon for so long will soon come down. Steel work on the east side of the stadium will take another couple of weeks.

        Crews will start installing the canopy — in 36 different sections — early next month. The job won't be finished until mid-June. The first pre-season game is Aug. 19.

        Mr. Wuerch said the canopy is intentionally made a little shorter than needed. One set of workers is ahead of the installation crew, laying down a grid of ropes to pull the fabric tight as it is bolted into place.

        When installed, the fabric will be strong enough to hold maintenance crews who will have to walk on it. The canopy will not flap in the wind or show any movement at all.

        “We should be able to install two sections every day,” Mr. Wuerch said.

        The canopy is designed to last 25 to 30 years, he said.

        And there might be an additional use for the canopy before its shelf life expires.

        The original idea for the canopy was to shine images — mainly advertising, although team logos would also work — on the fabric. That idea was lost in a cost-cutting measure.

        But architect Mr. Turner said the idea could always be revived.

        “The technology is now available for projecting images, even during the day,” he said. “That will continue to develop even further.”

       

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