A renovated Margaret Court Arena debuted with the start of this year's Australian Open, and the "signature part" of the "absolutely magnificent" facility is its retractable copper roof, according to ESPN's Tom Rinaldi. The idea behind the copper roof at the 7,500-seat arena was that regardless of where anyone is in the city of Melbourne, they "could look out and see that copper roof line and know that you were looking here at the signature part of this venue." Rinaldi: "One of the architects, Richard Breslin, said, 'We want to get Margaret Court its own identity.' Consider that a success" ("Australian Open," ESPN2, 1/18). The color and shape of the roof is "intended to reflect some elements of Melbourne's architecture," and the "facets and pleats in the copper colour lend the roof a kind of iridescence and it's said to change colour throughout the day" (ARCHITECTUREAU.com, 1/20). Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said the roof "can close in less than five minutes." Tiley: "We created something special there now regardless of the weather." Margaret Court becomes the third court at Melbourne Park with a roof, joining Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena. Tiley said, "If the weather was bad for the entire two weeks, we could still finish the tournament on those three courts." Renovations continue at Melbourne Park following this year's tournament, as Tiley noted a bridge is going to be built "across the main road leading to the city." He added, "We're building another media center ... and we're going to be putting in another court between Rod Laver and Hisense. ... It's constantly about improving. This is a superb venue" ("Live at the Australian Open," Tennis Channel, 1/19).
WORTH THE INVESTMENT: The BBC's Katie Beck noted Margaret Court Arena was part of the "first stage of renovations" that is part of a "three-stage upgrade package" that will cost a total of close to A$1B. Tiley said that the return "on this heavy infrastructure investment will more than pay for itself." He said, "It's estimated that the Australian Open earns the State of Victoria over [$200M] annually. If you take that over the next 30 years with the investment of over [$900M] that's going to be made, it's going to more than return on that investment within a few years and the rest will really just be icing on the cake" (BBC.com, 1/19).
