Fodor's Expert Review Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Home to the NFL's New Orleans Saints, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome has been the site of many Sugar Bowls, several NCAA Final Four basketball tournaments, the BCS championship game, a record seven Super Bowls, and the 1988 Republican National Convention, as well as many concerts.
The Superdome was badly damaged during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, when it served as a shelter of last resort for evacuees. The stadium underwent extensive renovations in the years that followed and reopened for football in September 2006, when the Saints beat the Atlanta Falcons, at the time setting a record for the largest TV audience in ESPN history.
Built in 1975, the Superdome seats 71,000 people, and has a 166,000-square-foot main arena and a roof that covers almost 10 acres at a height of 27 stories. The bronze statue on the Poydras Street side of the Superdome is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Across from it is a large abstract sculpture called Krewe of Poydras. The sculptor,... READ MORE
Home to the NFL's New Orleans Saints, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome has been the site of many Sugar Bowls, several NCAA Final Four basketball tournaments, the BCS championship game, a record seven Super Bowls, and the 1988 Republican National Convention, as well as many concerts.
The Superdome was badly damaged during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, when it served as a shelter of last resort for evacuees. The stadium underwent extensive renovations in the years that followed and reopened for football in September 2006, when the Saints beat the Atlanta Falcons, at the time setting a record for the largest TV audience in ESPN history.
Built in 1975, the Superdome seats 71,000 people, and has a 166,000-square-foot main arena and a roof that covers almost 10 acres at a height of 27 stories. The bronze statue on the Poydras Street side of the Superdome is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Across from it is a large abstract sculpture called Krewe of Poydras. The sculptor, Ida Kohlmeyer, meant to evoke the frivolity and zany spirit of Mardi Gras. A couple of blocks down Poydras Street from the Superdome is the Bloch Cancer Survivors Monument, a block-long walkway of whimsical columns, figures, and a triumphal arch in the median of Loyola Avenue. The Smoothie King Center (formerly called the New Orleans Arena) behind the Superdome is home to the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans.
The Superdome does not offer public tours, but visitors can walk along the exterior plaza and Champions Square to get a better view. The plaza by Champions Square offers the best photo opportunity.
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