Roof opens up more options

ATLANTA — With a few shorts blasts of a horn, the intricate steel structure came to life.

Slowly, the eight mammoth pods above Mercedes-Benz Stadium began to slide along railroad-like tracks, revealing the towering downtown skyline off to the east, the glimmering gold dome of the state capitol to the south and a brilliant blue sky sprinkled with puffy, white clouds overhead.

Eight minutes later, it was fully open.

Nearly a year after the ballyhooed opening of the $1.5 billion stadium, the retractable roof finally is open for business.

“We never had any doubt that this was going to work,” said Mike Egan, who oversaw construction of the stadium. “But to see it open — now I don’t have to show up at cocktails and have people ask me about the roof anymore. That’s what I’m most excited about.”

A process that took far longer than expected — and produced plenty of ridicule about whether the complex, camera shutter-like design would ever work — finally paid off Wednesday when stadium officials showed off the finished product.

The roof opened quicker than the projected 12 minutes in its original design, and it only needed about seven minutes to close. Stadium officials also insisted that problems with leaks, which embarrassingly turned up during last season’s college football national championship game, had been corrected.

The massive project, which broke ground in May 2014, is officially completed, which means this season’s Super Bowl could be held with the roof open if the NFL deems the weather outside to be acceptable.

“It’s working just exactly the way it’s supposed to,” Egan said. “We can’t wait until the fans are in here. They’re going to be blown away.”

The first demonstration of the fully functioning roof for the general public is set for Sunday, when the Atlanta Falcons will hold a training camp practice at the stadium. Some 50,000 fans are expected.

Egan said he never had any doubts about the roof working, but additional modifications were needed after the stadium opened last August. That meant the roof has been closed for all but three events — last season’s Falcons opener and two games for Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United FC, which already has set numerous attendance records.