This is the second in a series of reports examining the feasibility of a domed multi-purpose facility for downtown Birmingham.

Last week, the Birmingham City Council granted Mayor Larry Langford’s request to release $8 million annually to begin the process of building a domed stadium adjacent to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex in downtown Birmingham. The 57,700 stadium will be designed by Populous (formerly HOK Sports) – the same company responsible for two of the country’s newest domes: Reliant Stadium in Houston and University of Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix, as well as the new Yankee Stadium in New York City.
With ground already broken on the new complex, the prospect of a multi-purpose domed facility being built in Birmingham is now more certain than ever before. With that in mind, it behooves all of us to learn as much as we can about these behemoth structures. Therefore, I’ve collected some information about said stadiums that might surprise you, might inspire you and might give you pause. We’re going full Joe Friday on you this week —just the facts:

•There are only 18 domed stadiums of similar size to the proposed Birmingham dome located in the United States. (Ballparks.com)

•Those 18 domed stadiums are located in 14 cities: Dallas, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Houston, Milwaukee, Seattle, St. Louis, San Antonio, Atlanta, Tampa, Minneapolis, Syracuse, N.Y., Detroit and New Orleans. (Ballparks.com)

•Of those 14 cities, only one does not have a major-league sports franchise (Syracuse). Syracuse’s Carrier Dome is the on-campus football and basketball facility for the Syracuse University Orange. It should be noted that the San Antonio Spurs do not play in the city’s Alamodome, but in the newer AT&T Center arena.

•Of these 14 cities, only one (Syracuse) has a smaller population than Birmingham. (U.S. Census Bureau)

•Eleven of these 14 cities have a larger metropolitan area population than Birmingham. (U.S. Census Bureau)

•Eleven of the 14 cities that built domed facilities did so out of necessity born out of extreme weather conditions. Excessive rainfall prompted Tampa, Seattle and New Orleans to build domes. Syracuse, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Detroit were forced indoors by cold temperatures. Phoenix, San Antonio and Houston built domes to escape the extreme summer heat. (Ballparks.com, Wikipedia.com)

•Only two cities (Syracuse, Tampa) did not have a major-league sports franchise prior to building their domed facility. It should be noted that Syracuse did not necessarily build their facility with the intention of hosting a professional sports franchise. (Wikipedia.com)

•Houston has three domed facilities, Reliant Stadium (home of the NFL’s Houston Texans), Minute Maid Park (home of MLB’s Houston Astros) and the Reliant Astrodome (former home of both clubs). (Ballparks.com)

•Houston’s Reliant Astrodome, built in 1965, was the first domed stadium ever built. It now sits vacant with no permanent tenant. (The Houston Chronicle, Ballparks.com)

•Phoenix and Detroit are the only other cities to have more multiple domed facilities. Phoenix is home to both University of Phoenix Stadium (NFL’s Arizona Cardinals) and Chase Field (MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks). Detroit boasts both Ford Field (NFL’s Detroit Lions) and the vacant Silverdome (the Lions’ former stadium). (Ballparks.com)

•Several cities have either kicked already-obsolete domes to the curb or are planning to in the near future. Seattle imploded the Kingdome in 2000, as did Indianapolis in 2008 with the RCA Dome. Detroit is contemplating auctioning off the Silverdome, which costs the city roughly $1.5 million annually to sit vacant. Houston is trying to find a buyer for the aging Astrodome, which has deteriorated to the point of failing several recent city inspections. Within the next five years, Minneapolis is planning on replacing the aging Metrodome with a brand-new ballpark for the Twins and Vikings. (Sources: Wikipedia.com, ESPN.com, The Detroit News, The Houston Chronicle, Minnesota Star-Tribune)

•At least two cities have serious dome regret. Debt problems have plagued St. Louis’s Edward Jones Dome and Tampa/St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field since their completion. The Edward Jones Dome, completed in 1995, cost a mere $280 million to build, roughly half the estimated cost of the Birmingham dome. It houses the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, whose ownership group is threatening to leave the city unless a new dome is built to reflect the more modern stadiums popping up around the league. Tropicana Field, completed in 1990, was built in hopes of luring a professional sports team to the Tampa area. It sat vacant for three years until the National Hockey League granted the city a franchise in 1993. Today, Tropicana Field hosts MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays. The facility cost $130 million to build – well over the initial $85 million estimate –and is widely criticized as one of the worst stadiums in major league sports. Plans are already in the works to replace the 19-year old building with a new facility, despite the fact that taxpayers are still working to pay it off. (Sources: State of Missouri Web site, Forbes Magazine, FieldofSchemes.com, Wikipedia.com, TampaBay.com)

Is this is worst domed stadium ever? We probably won't know for sure until Birmingham's is finished. Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell once called Tampa's Tropicana Field "a domed park that looks like a garbage can with its lid on crooked." Birmingham, like Tampa before it, is vying to build a domed stadium without first securing a team to play in it.

•There are several small domed facilities on-site at college campuses throughout the country. Most of these seat less than 20,000 people. They include Holt Arena (Pocatello, Id.), Kibbie Activity Center (Moscow, Id.), UNI-Dome (Cedar Falls, Iowa), Walkup Skydome (Flagstaff, Az.), Dakota Dome (Vermillion, S.D.), Tacoma Dome (Tacoma, Wash.), Superior Dome (Marquette, Mich.), Fargodome (Fargo, N.D.) and Alerus Center (Grand Forks, N.D.). (Source: Ballparks.com)

•Internationally, Japan is apparently wild about domed stadiums. There, both the baseball and rainy seasons occur at the same time each year, necessitating indoor play. There are 13 domed stadiums in Japan, most built from the late 1990s through the early 2000s. (Sources: Ballparks.com, About.com: Japanese Travel)

•Most modern-day and proposed domes have or will have retractable roofs. This includes the proposed Birmingham structure. A retractable roof is fairly self-explanatory – the dome itself can be mechanically opened and shut depending on weather conditions or the desire of the event coordinators. The first-ever dome built with a retractable roof was the Toronto SkyDome (now Rogers Centre), which was completed in 1989. (Source: Ballparks.com, Wikipedia.com)

•Back in America, you’ll notice most of the 18 large domes in this country have had their naming rights purchased by a major – usually local – company or organization: Lucas Oil Stadium (site in Indianapolis, company based in Corona, Calif.), University of Phoenix Stadium (Phoenix, local), Reliant Stadium and Reliant Astrodome (Houston, local energy company), Ford Field (Detroit, local company), Miller Park (Milwaukee, local beer distributor), Minute Maid Park (Houston, local juice distributor), Safeco Field (Seattle, local insurance company), Chase Field (site in Phoenix, bank based in New York), Edward Jones Dome (St. Louis, local investment company), Tropicana Field (Tampa, local juice distributor), and Carrier Dome (site in Syracuse, N.Y., manufacturer based in Connecticut). So far, there has been no definitive word as to whom, if anyone, will buy the naming rights to Birmingham’s proposed facility. (Source: Ballparks.com)

Upon Further Review is the Birmingham Weekly sports page. Write to matt@bhamweekly.com