The Detroit Lions are preparing to roll out upgrades to Ford Field for the 2017 season, including new videoboards and revamped premium spaces.
Earlier this year, the Lions revealed plans for a $100 million renovation that would lead to several changes at Ford Field. Perhaps the most visible upgrade is to the video displays, highlighted by the new end zone videoboards that measure at 39 1/2 feet tall by 152 1/2 feet wide.
The videoboards are just one component of the project, however, as Ford Field is receiving upgrades to its premium spaces along with several changes to its north end. Renovations are wrapping up next month and cover a wide variety of areas at Ford Field, as Lions president Rod Wood detailed during a media tour this week. More from The Detroit Free Press:
Ford Field renovations are expected to be completed Aug. 1. As Wood gave a large gathering of reporters an extensive, hour-long tour of the work that began in March and is still going at full bore, renovations seemed to touch every corner of the building across 209,000 square feet.
Some of the highlights included full updates to the 125 suites, more football-themed designs like yard markers on floors, pictures of players and Lions-colored decorations and designs. There will be a grab-and-go food concession, a fully updated Corner Bar that features a 90-foot bar with several video boards and a video wall that contains game information.
The north side of the stadium had been somewhat neglected and was viewed, Wood admitted, as a “second-class citizen,” which made it hard to sell more expensive seating. Food service was slow because food came from the kitchen on the stadium’s south side. A 4,000-square-foot kitchen has been installed and there are significant new additions like the Miller Lite Taproom and the Comerica Gridiron Club, which includes outdoor seating and a large fire pit for lounging during brisk autumn afternoons.
A sound system upgrade also is coming, although it was not ready for demonstration.
Ford Field originally opened in 2002, and is one of several stadiums that is receiving upgrades in advance of the 2017 NFL season. Among facilities receiving renovations prior to the 2017 campaign include Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, Carolina’s Bank of America Stadium, Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, New England’s Gillette Stadium, and Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium. A new amphitheater–Daily’s Place–has already made its debut outside of Jacksonville’s EverBank Field.
Rendering courtesy Detroit Lions.
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