USTA approves $300m Flushing Meadows upgrade 17/11/2010 |
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The United States Tennis Association (USTA) has approved a major revamp of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre – home of the US Open.
The Louis Armstrong Stadium will torn down and replaced, while two new mini-stadiums will be built.
The new Louis Armstrong Stadium, the facility’s No. 2 court, will not have a roof built immediately, but will be “roof-ready”.
The total redevelopment cost is said to exceed $300m, but only the first $30m has been formally budgeted.
Construction will begin immediately on a 3,000-seat mini stadium, which will be built adjacent to the hospitality building on the property's less busy south-east corner. That mini-stadium may or may not be ready for the 2011 US Open, but will definitely be ready for 2012.
The USTA does not expect to begin the demolition of Louis Armstrong Stadium and the much-loved court next door, the Grandstand, for six to eight years.
Louis Armstrong currently holds 10,200 people and the USTA is looking at the new stadium to seat 12,000-14,000 fans.
The USTA has been told that Louis Armstrong, which sits on an old marsh, will begin to crumble in six to eight years. The two courts functioned as the US Open's main stadiums when the facility first opened in 1978.
The Grandstand, which currently seats 6,100 people, will be replaced by the second mini-stadium, which will hold at least 7,000 fans.
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