|
Today, after 40 years of existence,
Arrowhead Stadium remains one of the finest stadiums in the NFL.
After three years in Dallas as the Texans, owner Lamar Hunt moved
the team to Kansas City in 1963 and renamed the team the Chiefs. For
nearly a decade, the Chiefs shared an aging
Municipal Stadium with
the Athletics and Royals (MLB). By the mid 1960s the City of Kansas City began to
look for sites to construct a new stadium. However, the city failed
in their effort to find a site.
In 1966, the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority was
established to acquire land, design, construct and get funding for a
new stadium. Original plans were for a multipurpose stadium, but
these plans were scrapped because of design and seating capacity
problems. Unlike many other cities that were building multipurpose
stadiums, the county decided to build two new stadiums, one for
baseball and one for football. In June 1967, a $102 million bond was
issued for construction of two sports stadiums. Construction on the
Truman Sports Complex began on July 11, 1968. A rolling roof was
part of the original design for both stadiums, but the idea scrapped
because of cost overruns and project delays it would cause.
After
over four years of construction, the stadium was completed in
time for the start of the 1972 season. The facility was named
Arrowhead Stadium. The Kansas City Chiefs played their first
game at Arrowhead Stadium on August 12, 1972, against the St.
Louis Cardinals. When the stadium opened it was ahead of its
time because of its great sightlines and because it was not
multipurpose, like many other stadiums built in the 1970s. Over
79,000 red and gold seats in three tiers enclosed the entire
Astroturf playing surface.
Since its opening in 1972, Arrowhead Stadium has underwent numerous changes.
In 1984, officials discussed adding a dome to Arrowhead Stadium. However,
the idea was not considered
because of the high project costs it would involve. A JumboTron
videoboard was added above the upper deck rim past the south endzone in
1991. Arrowhead Stadium received its present appearance
in 1994, when the Astroturf playing field was replaced with natural grass.
In 1999 and 2000, all 79,000 seats were replaced with new seats.
Arrowhead
Stadium has several amenities, including the Arrowhead Club, over 10,000
club seats and 80 luxury suites. Arrowhead Stadium continues to sell out
every game, and is one of the NFL’s loudest
stadiums. The Chiefs are also known as having one of the best tailgating
experiences in the NFL, much like what is found at college football games.
In August 2007, the Chiefs unveiled a renovation plan that keeps Arrowhead
Stadium up to par with the newest stadiums in the NFL. Completed by the 2010
season, renovations and additions include a refurbished club level,
restaurants and concession areas, an expanded team store, and a Founders
Plaza on the stadium’s north side honoring the late Lamar Hunt. This project
also included the construction of the Horizons Level atop the upper deck on
the south side of the stadium that includes a new pressbox, luxury suites
and premium seats. No major changes were made to the seating bowl. However,
the overall capacity decreased to 76,416. Located on the lower-level
concourse, the 28,000 square-foot Chiefs Hall of Honor, highlights great
teams and players, and exhibits artifacts from the Chiefs' history. New HD
video/scoreboards replaced the existing scoreboards located above the stands
in both endzones.
|
