Quote:
Originally Posted by dlavery
The black tarp is installed in the Georgia Dome every spring. It stays up throughout the summer, and is usually removed just before the start of football season. The primary reason for the tarp is to keep sunlight filtering through the translucent fabric of the roof from completely overwhelming the air conditioning system and heating the Dome to the point of being uninhabitable. The tarp is usually installed a few weeks after the FIRST Championship, but it may be installed earlier if other Dome clients request it. This year the Arbonne Cosmetics show, which preceded the FIRST Championship in the Dome, paid a hefty sum (you don't want to know how much) to have the tarp installed early to create the right "lighting mood" for their show.
-dave
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Dave, thanks for the info. and the picture.
I suppose it does no good for a mere spectator like me to complain, but when we're in the stands trying to take pictures of the matches, the Georgia Dome
sans black tarps is the ONLY venue with enough light to get decent pictures. I was thrilled to be there in 2004 with a new digital camera, got lots of wonderful pictures from the stands--and was really upset the next year to find the whole roof blackened, and my pictures were just as dark and blurry as at the dingy old venues where the regionals are held.
I think we had all assumed the tarps were up in 2005 for the new CMU cams. It would sure be nice if FIRST could persuade the Dome officials to hold off on the tarps till after our competition.
**Off topic: Despite the many wonderful design features of the Georgia Dome, with its easy accessibility for spectators and that amazing roof fabric (I never can believe the whole thing weighs less than I do)--didn't it occur to the designers that a thin roof would make it into a summer bake oven?**