The USTA unveiled its new Arthur Ashe Stadium roof for the media for the first time yesterday, though it took three tries to reopen it after it was closed initially. National Tennis Center COO Danny Zausner told assembled media that during the U.S. Open, an engineering team will be present to address any issues, while the USTA was aware of the one that caused the roof not to close over the stadium. Billie Jean King, standing on court, twice pressed the button to open the roof to no avail. On the third try, after several more minutes, it worked. The USTA has closed and opened the roof, which took two years to construct, several times over the last week (Daniel Kaplan, Staff Writer). Zausner said that the glitch had been "caused by a 'racking' problem; one of the sensors that guide the two sides along their tracks had malfunctioned." TENNIS.com's Steve Tignor wrote for now there is "no doubt the USTA's architects and builders have pulled off a titanically dazzling piece of engineering." Architecture firm Rossetti President & CEO Matt Rossetti said, "The complexity is mind-boggling." Each of the roof's two, teflon-coated retractable panels "weighs one million pounds and moves 25 feet per minute." The roof's total size "is the equivalent of 17 Olympic swimming pools." More than 13 million pounds of steel "were used to create it, and 48 computers are used to make it open and close." The top of the stadium "is now 55 feet higher than the Statue of Liberty" (TENNIS.com, 8/2).
CHECK ALL THE BOXES: In N.Y., Naila-Jean Meyers writes glitch aside, the unveiling "was a celebratory occasion" for the USTA. For years, such a project "was deemed not economically, architecturally or technologically feasible." The panels "closed the 62,500-square-foot opening in 5 minutes 21 seconds." As they closed, the new LED lighting system "flickered on, and pleasant, cool air circulated around the stadium." The roof cost $150M of the total $600M project (N.Y. TIMES, 8/3). USTA Exec Dir & COO Gordon Smith said, "We said we would not do this on the backs of our fans. We said we would self-fund this 100 percent, and we have." On Long Island, Jeff Williams notes the roof "might be the least of the wow factor" at the U.S. Open this year, with "much of its superstructure in place during last year's Open" (NEWSDAY, 8/3).
SUN BLOCK: ESPN.com's Peter Bodo noted the roof will block the rain "and the sun." The noise level in center court also "increases significantly when the roof is closed" (ESPN.com, 8/2). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Matthew Oshinsky notes the expanded Grandstand Stadium was also unveiled. Fans of the "old three-sided venue with festival-style seating may get a jolt when they see the new version, a circular stadium with 8,125 seats -- 2,000 more than its predecessor" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/3). Bodo wrote the the Grandstand Stadium now "dominates the southwest corner of the grounds." Visually it is "a gem," but it remains to be seen "how it functions as a venue for players and fans" (ESPN.com, 8/2).
