Is Qwest Field designed for a Retractable Roof?

[towerguy3]

Is Qwest Field designed for a fabric Retractable Roof? Have the Seahawks had any interest in having a Retractable roof?

There are those two huge arches over your Stadium.

Here in Vancouver, BC Place Stadium has been mulling over the concept of a Retractable roof built on a structure outside of the dome in time for 2010...

[JiminyCricket II]

I don't think there have been or are plans to ever having a retractable roof at Qwest.

That'd be awesome if they had a retractable roof at BC Place, then they could have a Canucks game outside like they did in Buffalo on New Years, that was awesome. And aren't the opening and closing ceremonies at BC Place? I always thought those were outdoors normally. Are they planning on the roof being like Safeco Field, where the whole structure slides off/on to the stadium?

[mhays]

For Qwest, that would have required a massive additional expense for the original project. It wasn't considered to my knowledge.

[BoulderGrad]

I believe it was meant to be like many european soccer stadiums, where the stands are covered and largely protected from the elements for the comfort of the fans, while the players still have to play in the muck.

[Seasun]

I agree that there's no way Qwest was designed for a retractable roof.

[Nutterbug]

I don't think there have been or are plans to ever having a retractable roof at Qwest.

That'd be awesome if they had a retractable roof at BC Place, then they could have a Canucks game outside like they did in Buffalo on New Years, that was awesome. And aren't the opening and closing ceremonies at BC Place? I always thought those were outdoors normally. Are they planning on the roof being like Safeco Field, where the whole structure slides off/on to the stadium?

The weather in Vancouver is too warm and unreliable for an outdoors hockey game.

[Brian Fellows]

there will never be a roof on qwest field.

Shiieat, whatch you been smokin'?!

[matthew2109]

Qwest Field is nice as it is. No roof needed

[Aleks]

Well.... I doubt they will add a roof but in case they did add one my guess is that it would be a strong but light fabric that will open and close from the North/South direction not the East/West and the roofs over the seats would have a type pf rail that would pull the retractable roof from South to North to close and North to South to close it. And rolled into a large tube on top of the Qwest Convention Center.

[Fiat Lux]

^ It wouldn't work with the wind, plus the rest of Qwest is still open air. Again, there is zero reason for a roof. It rarely rains for Seahawks games and the adjacent Stadium Exhibition Center has more floor space than the Kingdome had. The only thing we are missing from the old Kingdome days is a large venue for the Final Four. An outdoor stadium will never host one, so let's forget about a silly roof and concentrate our creative sports thinking on solutions to keep the Sonics from being stolen from us from a bunch of lying, thieving Okies.

[Nutterbug]

If you can't afford a retractable roof, just find a way to lay a big sheet of tarp over it.

[BoulderGrad]

If you can't afford a retractable roof, just find a way to lay a big sheet of tarp over it.

You mean like in Montreal? Ask them how cheap that ended up being

[mhays]

Don't mistake fabric for "easy". The fabric itself would be heavy to begin with. It would have to be able to hold rain and snow, or it wouldn't be allowed, even if the intent was to roll it up in bad weather. Also, it would have to withstand astronomical wind loads, particularly if it was a Safeco-type "umbrella" where wind could get under it, rather than a sealed fabric dome. In other words, the structural support would need to be massive. Even rainwater collection would be a serious issue -- you'd have to funnel the water somewhere. And what about a cleaning mechanism? What about the motors to extend/retract it?

[Aleks]

Well yeah, water woudln't be too much pf a problem since the "roof" would be retractable and curved so it would slide off to the side but there is the prblem that it would land on the field, on the North side of the stadium, and on the roof of the Exhibition Center which would add a good amount of weight on top of it. Plus the Exhibition Center would already have to support the massive tarp and the machinery that would roll it up.

So... I guess there really is no way that the Seahawks Stadium (I hate calling it Qwest Field) will have a roof over it. Plus football is better in the rain & snow (which we hardly ever get).

[mhays]

You have to manage the water -- letting it just fall off the side isn't allowed. Imagine a peak load of 750 gallons per minute flowing off.

The stadium already has rainwater control systems, so the trick would be getting the water from your roof into the existing system somewhere. This would require substantial new infrastructure.