Caesars Superdome Renovations Update

A look inside the upgrades at the Caesars Superdome for the upcoming season.

The Saints have unveiled the latest updates to the Envision the Future transformation of the Caesars Superdome. It's part of a five-year project that is expected to be completed in 2024. The goal is to transform the fan experience and functionality, and those attending Saints games this season will be the first to experience this evolution.

Superdome Renovations - What You Need to Know

Work in the Superdome started on Monday, Jan 9, 2023 just hours after the Saints season ended, with the west exterior concourse being layered with door frames. Those “frames” were the drywall brackets that served as anchors for the temporary walls that framed the concourses throughout the 2022 season, which allowed work for Envision the Future to continue. The temporary walls quickly came down in multiple areas and new steel beams began flowing into Caesars Superdome. 

The latest phase “began” primarily on the east sideline, with demolition work commencing on the 100-plaza level all the way to the 650 levels. 40,000 square feet of ramps had been removed on the east side Gate C, and so, this year the build back is creating a new experience for fans on the east sideline. At the same time this offseason, workers have been removing 40,000 square feet of ramps on the west side to open the space needed for the same amenities created on the east sideline. 

The 100 Plaza on the East side has been widened and new fan facing amenities have been added. The Caesars Legends Sideline Club now begins on the 200 Level East side. The concourse on the 200 east sideline loges has been updated and the east 200 level concourse is also considered to be inside the sideline Legends club. There are tunnels or hallways at each end of the concourse allowing patrons to flow freely between concessions and restrooms on the concourse and field side back to the sideline club that sits along the building’s exterior wall. The Caesars Legends Sideline Club will provide guests with a much wider footprint to enjoy, a common theme that will be touched on throughout this series. 

The East Sideline 300 level suites were also gutted during this phase, with the redesigned space taking full advantage of the added space by housing newer and much longer suite accommodations (think of it as a modern adaptation on a New Orleans shotgun Caesars Superdome style!). The 300 level suites on the East side have practically doubled in length, with the same exact thing happening to the West sideline suites in 2024. Without the ramps on the east side, there is also much more room on the 300 level for new restrooms and pantries for hot and cold food preparation. 

Meanwhile, after taking down the temporary walls at Gate C, elevator shafts were created and many will be ready to whisk guests directly to and from the club and suite levels in rapid fashion, beginning with this season. 

With the temporary walls gone on the 400-suite level, the new escalators and atriums in the corners have come into full view. The new atriums (which will serve as an entire segment unto itself in the coming days), will maximize on quite a bit of previously unused space. The new, finished looks of the atriums on the corners of the Caesars Superdome are brighter and project the feeling of spaciousness. 

In the upper corners of Caesars Superdome, work is nearing completion on the standing room only decks or “SROs,” on the 650 levels in the northeast and northwest corners. The new standing room only decks, in each quad and the new escalators from the 500 level to the 650 levels are set to be ready for the upcoming season. The end zone valley on 450 level at Gate A is also getting a complete makeover with steps replacing the ramps along with new concessions and restrooms. Thus, the East side will have the new amenities in place this season (August completion). The ramps on the west side will be gone by the start of this season, and the temporary walls will be in the place there allowing work to continue the west sideline during the season when feasible. 

The west sideline is not without some new items to celebrated 2023 as the northwest atrium at Gate H will be complete and ready for the upcoming football season. 

In addition, the southeast quad at Gate D is getting the same renovation and atriums now constructed in the northeast and northwest quads. Tom Benson’s corner, a replica of the office of the late Saints Owner Tom Benson, with all of its artifacts safely stored has been removed. The 200-level Iberville Club above it also gone, and the Stadium Club on the 300 level has also been removed to make room for the third atrium in the southeast quad to be ready for the 2024 season.

ATRIUM SPACES

The most notable visual changes for the upcoming season and beyond will be the addition of new atrium lobbies on the 100 Level in both the Northeast Quad (Gate B) and Northwest Quad (Gate H), the two corners closest to Poydras Street. Rather than the entry gates being simply a pass-through to the 100 level Plaza, these massive entrance lobbies with food and beverage amenities and a Saints Team Store (NW) will become meeting spots for fans before and during the game. A third atrium in the Southeast Quad (Gate D) will be ready for the 2024 season and will be protected by a temporary wall for the 2023 season.

An escalator will carry patrons from the 100 to the 200 level in the Northeast and Northwest Quads where on the 200 Levels they will have yet more food and beverage amenities to choose from. It is here fans will take a 120-foot escalator from the 200 Level directly to their seats onthe 500 level and above. O n the 500 Level there will be yet another escalator that will carry fans to the 650 level to their seats and the SRO decks. These atrium spaces beginning at the 100 Level lobby areas will give Caesars Superdome a more open and airy feeling for fans they’ve never enjoyed before.

ATRIUM PANELS

There are some unique characteristics of the re-designed atriums. Massive panels of extruded aluminum tubing become what’s known as the “atrium skins.” 

The champagne gold tubing creates the panels and are custom-made pieces of anodized aluminum. The architect for the renovation, Trahan Architects wanted the panels’ color to mimic the Caesars Superdome’s timeless exterior, designed by Curtis and Davis, the original architectural firm of Caesars Superdome. 

The atrium skins rising inside Caesars Superdome are not straight lines, but rather geometric curves that narrow vertically from the 200 level to where the escalators reach the 500 level. The East Sideline Legends Club will also have two atriums inside that will give the large open space some spatial definition. The two atriums in the east sideline Legends Club will only go as high as the 400-level ceiling, and a uniquely designed piece of fabric and special LED lighting above that will give the appearance of a skylight. This same system will be used in the atrium entrance lobbies as well. The Southeast Atrium and the West Sideline Club coming in 2024 will have the exact same atrium skins and artificial skylights.

VERTICAL TRANSPORTATION

New to Caesars Superdome this season in both corners closest to Poydras Street (NE and NW) will be new escalator systems carrying guest from the 100 level to the 650 level. Traveling from the 100 Level on the Plaza up to the 650 Level near the top of the building will require just three escalators. The impressive system was designed to get fans into their seats as soon as possible and as close to the new amenities at the same time. One escalator will whisk fans from the 100 to the 200 level, then a 120-foot escalator will take fans from 200 to 500 levels. The third and final escalator in each quad, will carry fans from the 500 level to the 650 level, where the SRO Decks are positioned. 

There will also be new elevators in place at the two middle gates on the East and West (2024) side of the building. The elevators at Gate C, which will be ready during the upcoming 2023 football season. And when completed will take fans down to the east sideline Bunker Club on the ground level, to the 200 level Legends East Sideline Club, and the 300 and 400 suite levels.

CHALLENGES OF THIS SEASON

The ongoing construction will create some temporary inconveniences for the upcoming Saints season for fans sitting on the stadium’s West side. Construction work will create narrower concourses in a handful of areas and eliminate some restrooms and concessions. 

The same issues occurred last season on the stadium’s east side, with fans quickly learning how to rely on modern technologies and experiences in navigating their quickest paths to and from their seats. The use of the exterior perimeters was met with positive reviews last football season and the process will be replicated this summer and fall in an effort designed to create less friction for all fans. 

Fans are strongly encouraged to allow a little extra time to circumnavigate the stadium on the outside apron rather than the interior concourses.