The Superior Dome is a domed stadium on the campus of

Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designated Northern a uni ...

(NMU) in

Marquette, Michigan Marquette ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,629 at the 2020 United States Census, which makes it the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. Marquette serves as the seat of government of Marquett ...

, United States. It opened as the "world’s largest wooden dome" on September 14, 1991, and is home to the

Northern Michigan Wildcats football The Northern Michigan Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northern Michigan University, located in Marquette, Michigan, in NCAA intercollegiate sporting competitions. All teams that play under NCAA governance compete at the Division I ...

, women's lacrosse, and women's track and field teams, the NMU Wildcat marching band, and hosts a variety of other campus and community events. The dome is tall, has a diameter of , covers an area of and has a volume of 16,135,907 cubic feet. It is a

geodesic dome A geodesic dome is a hemispherical thin-shell structure (lattice-shell) based on a geodesic polyhedron. The triangular elements of the dome are structurally rigid and distribute the structural stress throughout the structure, making geodesic dom ...

constructed with 781

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

beams and of fir decking and is designed to support snow up to and withstand winds. It has a permanent

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 8,000 people, though the building can hold as many as 16,000 people. The 2010 edition of ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' listed it as the fifth-largest dome and largest wooden dome in the world.

Construction

The construction was finished in two phases. 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 Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. 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 general contractor for Phase 1 was R.E. Dailey & Company (Perini Corp.), Southfield, MI. The architect was TMP Associates, Bloomfield Hills, MI.

Use

The Wildcats football team was the first to christen the Dome, hosting the first event in the facility on September 14, 1991. Northern defeated

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, 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 Ferris State University (FSU or Ferris) is a public university with its main campus in Big Rapids, Michigan. It was founded in 1884 and became a public institution in 1950. Ferris is the ninth-largest institutions of higher education by enroll ...

, 27–17, on October 5. On September 18, 2008, a new attendance record was set as 8,672 watched Northern lose to the

Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Technological University's sports teams are called the Huskies. The Huskies participate in NCAA Division II as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), a member of the Central Collegiate Ski Associatio ...

in a televised game. The dome features a retractable artificial turf carpet, the largest of its kind in the world. When extended, the turf can accommodate

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

. Underneath the carpet is a synthetic playing surface that features three basketball/volleyball courts, two tennis courts and a track. The carpet is winched in and out of place on a cushion of air. Retracting the turf carpet takes 30 minutes, with full setup taking approximately two hours. The Superior Dome is also host to a number of campus and community events, including

Michigan High School Athletic Association The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is a service organization for high school sports in Michigan and is headquartered in East Lansing. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Unlike ma ...

football regular season and playoff games, trade shows (approximately of space), conventions, conferences, banquets, high school track meets, the Upper Peninsula "

Band Day Band Day refers to an annual marching band festival or competition, usually intended for high school bands. Background High school marching bands are invited onto a university campus to rehearse with and play alongside the university marching band ...

" competition/exhibition,

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

and NMU's commencement exercises. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

held a campaign rally in the stadium during the 2004 Presidential campaign.

References

External links

360° interactive view of the Superior Dome
{{coord, 46, 33, 36, N, 87, 23, 37, W, type:landmark, display=title College football venues Convention centers in Michigan Covered stadiums in the United States Geodesic domes Modernist architecture in Michigan Sports venues in Michigan American football venues in Michigan Northern Michigan Wildcats football Tourist attractions in Marquette County, Michigan Event venues established in 1991 Buildings and structures in Marquette, Michigan 1991 establishments in Michigan Sports venues completed in 1991