Phillygwm Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 (edited) DCI staff were informed of the stadium manager's decision to keep roof closed either Monday or Tuesday. There were several reasons stated. First and most important was the uncertainty of the weather. If you were in Indy Tuesday morning you know that the city experienced a hellacious thunderstorm. Apparently storms like this are not that unusual. Unlike most turf fields, LOS is totally flat, which does not allow for drainage if it gets wet. The weather forecast for both Friday and Saturday included the possibility of rain or thunderstorms. And rain did indeed threaten early Saturday evening but passed to the north of the city.[snip] Also, the forecast for Saturday was a high temperature of about 94 or 95 degrees. There is not a stadium air conditioning system anywhere that could keep an open stadium cool in weather like that. All things considered, it simply made more sense to leave it closed for this event. Will it be open for future DCI events? I would say likely yes.... if the conditions are right. I think if the stadium roof were to be open on one day, it would have been Thursday. No precipitation and cooler temps. It rained (a bit) Friday and Saturday was really hot outside, which would have exacerbated the heat inside if the article cited by PioWeb is to be believed. For this reason, it's unrealistic to expect the roof will be open for future events. It often rains during the Summer in Indy and it's generally quite hot. Do not use Bloomington's weather last year as your benchmark (a reason why even IU is not an ideal venue; we just got lucky in '08.) I suppose it's possible to see an open roof if there's a cool spell and no rain forecast for Championships week, but I wouldn't consider that a likelihood. Edited August 13, 2009 by Phillygwm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mingusmonk Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I think if the stadium roof were to be open on one day, it would have been Thursday. No precipitation and cooler temps. Agreed. As soon as I saw that they were keeping it closed on Thursday, I knew it would be shut down all week, and likely ... for the duration of DCI @ LOS. Weather (rain and temps) were zero factor on Thursday. Obviously there is another driving element. Realistic possibilities? Could be any combination of the below. Cost of open/close Cost/logistics of retooling acoustic elements during open/close (changing/removing the hanging tarps) Demands of production staff (need/want consistent environment for recordings and broadcasts) Demands of DCI member corps (drum tuning and ensemble rehearsals geared @ one single acoustic result) and likely more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YEAguy Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 For all of the inquiring minds out there...The roof was closed because it would have cost thousands of dollars to open it up (I've been told an amount in the six figure range)... A private firm does the opening and closing and DCI would have to pay for several employees from that company to remain on-site, for the entire event, each day... Apparently, DCI didn't know about the high price when they signed the stadium deal. You have no idea what you are talking about! Granted, the acoustics are an issue for me .. but you are so off base in your information .. it is absurd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peel Paint Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 (edited) Even in Bloomington 2008 when the weather did feature that cool dry Canadian air that central and southern Indiana seldom see the second week of August, there were showers near Bloomington and Indianapolis the Saturday afternoon of finals and so the Lucas Oil roof would have been closed that night. If you read the material PioneerWebmaster posted, they're not likely to open the roof on any Thursday, which is the day some would argue DCI needs it most sound-wise because there are fewer fans in the stands to absorb reverb, precisely because there are few fans in the stands. It's not "important" enough an event. It's also clear, and we've heard this before, that DCI has NO say in the decision to open or close the roof. Lucas Oil management makes the decision. And it's clear that on a humid 90 degree day, you'd have many DCI fan complaints about discomfort, because the shell blocks air movement and the AC can't be run. And I'm not seeing it in this thread, so I'll say it again: opening the roof and window might help but WILL NOT SOLVE the sound problems, because it's all that extra stadium shell casing that is causing the acoustical issues compared to open air stadiums many drum corps fans prefer, heat and all. The parts of the roof and the window that can open are a relatively very small percentage of the area of extra stadium shell casing-- probably 10% or less. Edited August 13, 2009 by Peel Paint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 You have no idea what you are talking about! Granted, the acoustics are an issue for me .. but you are so off base in your information .. it is absurd Figured as much as far as "six figures" was concerned. Let me ask this, though, if you have time to respond, Hop . . . 1. Was the idea of opening the roof at least considered? 2. Do you think there's any way Dan Acheson, Lucas Oil sound folks, etc can rectify at least some of the sound issues there for Nats next year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillygwm Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 You have no idea what you are talking about! Granted, the acoustics are an issue for me .. but you are so off base in your information .. it is absurd On the bright side, at least all the discussions aren't concerning Cadets' narration anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmurrey74 Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 (edited) I remember reading an article about how the roof opened and closed last year. It was mentioned that employees from Uni-Systems (the roof manufacturer) had to be on site during any opening and closing. They were positioned in different areas around the roof to monitor for any issues. Obviously this would add to the cost as well. I thought it was in the IndyStar because I probably read a link off of the DCI site, but I can't find the article. Anyone remember this or have a link? EDIT Here's the link. I little off. Employees from the stadium are positioned during the opening and closing - Not Uni-Systems. Uni-Systems had a consultant on-site for the first year only. This has some good roof info though. http://www.indystar.com/article/20080822/S...s+modern+marvel Edited August 13, 2009 by rmurrey74 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_S Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 BOA? Was it that hard to puzzle out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PioneerWebmaster Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I guess I don't see cost of opening/closing the roof to be a factor. Here in Milwaukee, the first year or two that Miller Park was open with its fancy retractable roof, they opened and closed it almost every home game to show it off. I understand that we're talking about two completely different designs, but I can't imagine that the cost of opening/closing would be all that different. In any event, if it really cost a six figure number to open/close the roof, would they have been doing it at every game? Probably not... The last article makes it sound as if you just need a couple spotter to sweep the roof's tracks for debris, and then be present for the actual moving to make sure nothing abnormal is happening. Everything else is controlled by a few mouse strokes. The roof actually generates power as it opens, so I can't see that much cost being associated with it. As a side note... Perhaps some stadiums are looking at what happened with Miller Park as a reason not to open/close the roof unnecessarily. The park opened in 2001 and by 2006 needed over 13 million dollars in repairs to fix worn out/broken parts in the roof system. Some blamed poor design while others pointed at the fact that they opened and closed the roof way more than it was intended to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsMom Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 In Toronto, the Rogers Centre (formerly Skydome) roof opens in 20 minutes. When the roof is open, 91% of the seats and 100% of the field is open to the sky, covering an area of 3.2 hectares (8 acres). I couldn't find the cost of opening the roof, but do remember seeing a special about it on TV and it was minimal (as in a lot less than $100). Designers did develop the SkyTent as to help reduce sound distortion and improve sound quality. The tent is a group of acoustical curtain sails that is hoisted on rigging above the floor, to help dampen reverb of the music around the open stadium. So it can be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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