RCA Dome Roof Deflated

by Jon Azpiri | September 24, 2008 at 09:16 am

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This hasn't been a good week for old sports stadiums. First, Yankee Stadium hosted its final baseball game, then the Miami Arena was demolished, and now The RCA Dome--former home to the NFL's Indianapolis Colts--had its fabric roof deflated.

Four large fans that kept the roof afloat were turned off, letting the giant fabric roof sink to the ground.

The dome's eight-acre roof consists of two layers of fabric supported by a series of cables and fans. The 200-foot-high roof sank before coming to rest about 50 feet above the stadium floor.

It will take workers a couple of weeks to fully remove the 257-ton roof. Workers will cut easily accessible parts of the roof into 40-by-40-foot squares. Officials hope the material can be reused.

The RCA Dome hosted the Colts since the team moved from Baltimore to Indianapolis in 1984. During that time, the Colts hosted several AFC Championship games. The stadium also housed NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games, including four Final Fours in 1991, 1997, 2000, and 2006. This season the Colts moved to Lucas Oil Stadium, a state-of-the-art facility with a retractable roof.

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