Roof Study for Main U.S. Open Tennis Stadium to Be Reviewed
30/08/2007 |
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A new study for a roof on the main stadium at the U.S. Open tennis complex will be reviewed this weekend by organizers of the Grand Slam tournament.
The report will be presented to the U.S. Tennis Federation board, spokesman Chris Widmaier said. An initial study in 2004 estimated it would cost $100 million to put a roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium at the National Tennis Center in New York, where the tournament runs through Sep. 9.
``What is the best way to use $100 million? That's a lot of rackets in kids' hands,'' Widmaier said in an interview. The new evaluation will look at new technologies to try to reduce the cost, he said.
Widmaier said he didn't know details of the new study.
The U.S. Open last year was plagued by rain. Three days of matches were postponed because of the weather, causing the USTA to exchange 60,000 tickets for this year's event. Widmaier said he didn't know how much the ticket exchange cost.
The weather has been dry and sunny during the first three days of this year's tournament. There is a ``slight chance'' of showers and thunderstorms tomorrow night through the following morning, according to the National Weather Service.
The U.S. Open is the only one of the sport's four major tournaments without either a covered court or definite plans for one.
London's All England Club is building a retractable roof over Centre Court at Wimbledon, the season's third Grand Slam that has been rain-free only five times in 126 years. The roof is scheduled to be completed in 2009 and will cost about $83 million.
The two main courts at the Australian Open have retractable roofs to protect players from extreme heat. Organizers of the French Open are planning for a retractable-roof stadium set to open after 2011.
(Source: Bloomberg.com)
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