Superior Dome
| Yooper Dome | |
Opposite sides of the Superior Dome
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| Location | Northern Michigan University Marquette, Michigan 49855 |
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| Owner | Northern Michigan University |
| Operator | Northern Michigan University |
| Capacity | 8,000 |
| Surface | AstroTurf |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1991 |
| Opened | 1991 |
| Construction cost | $23.9 million |
| Tenants | |
| Northern Michigan University football and other athletics (NCAA) | |
The Superior Dome, which opened as the "world’s largest wooden dome" on September 14, 1991, is a domed stadium on the campus of Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan, in the United States. It is home to the Northern Michigan Wildcat Marching Band as well as their football team, and a variety of other campus and community events.
The dome is 143 feet (44 m) tall, has a diameter of 536 feet (163 m), covers an area of 5.1 acres (21,000 m2), and has a volume of 11668 cubic feet. It is a geodesic dome constructed with 781 Douglas Fir beams and 108.5 miles (174.6 km) of fir decking. The dome is designed to support snow up to 60 pounds per square foot (2.9 kPa) and withstand 80-mile-per-hour (130 km/h) winds. It has a permanent seating capacity of 8,000, though the building can hold as many as 16,000 people. The 2010 edition of Guinness World Records listed it as the fifth-largest dome and largest wooden dome in the world.
The construction was finished in two phases: Phase I and Phase II. Phase I was finished in August 1991 and included the construction of the domed complex. Phase II, completed in May 1995, added locker rooms, department offices, meeting rooms, concession areas, a retail store and other building amenities. Phase I of the project cost $21.8 million and was funded entirely by the State of Michigan. Phase II was completed for $2.1 million, with $800,000 in private donations and $1.3 million in loans. Total cost for the Superior Dome stands at $23.9 million.
The Wildcat football team was the first to christen the Dome, hosting the first-ever event in the facility on September 14, 1991. Northern defeated Indianapolis, 31–20, in front of a crowd of 7,942. Later that season, a Superior Dome attendance record was set at 8,432, when Northern defeated Ferris State, 27–17, on October 5. On September 18, 2008, a new attendance record was set as 8,672 watched Northern Michigan University lose to the Michigan Tech Huskies in a televised game.
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