pools football

The crown jewel of the National Football League, Lambeau Field this year is celebrating its 50th anniversary (1957-2007). The Packers are saluting the venerable facility with a special anniversary logo and other programming throughout the year.
It now is a year-round destination venue -- to be enjoyed by Packers fans in a variety of ways, on an everyday basis -- after undergoing a dramatic facelift that added a host of new amenities and attractions. The conclusion of the redevelopment project was marked by a rededication game, Sept. 7, 2003, against long-time divisional rival Minnesota.
Featuring the only true retro-look in the entire league, the glorious tradition and history of the Packers is carried forward in the "like-new" Lambeau Field with its heart -- the original seating bowl -- saved. The same hallowed ground where many of the NFL's greatest moments have transpired continues to exist, a canvas where current players can paint their own memories in future years.
At the same time, the structure has been transformed from a football stadium that fans could use only 10 days during the season to a Packers cultural center that can be enjoyed throughout the year. Within the five-story Lambeau Field Atrium, located on the stadium's east side, is the 25,000-square-foot Packers Hall of Fame, corporate meeting or event facilities for 25 to 1,200 people, seven different eating options highlighted by a one-of-a-kind brew pub (Curly's Pub) with interactive areas, and a larger Packers Pro Shop (see page 596-98, 600 for a full listing of the Atrium dining, entertainment and retail options).
Just outside the Atrium in the Robert E. Harlan Plaza, named in honor of the former team CEO (1989-2007), are bronze statues of team founder Curly Lambeau and legendary coach Vince Lombardi. Sculpted by Julie Rotblatt-Amrany (Lombardi) and Omri Amrany (Lambeau) of Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt-Amrany in Highland Park, Ill., at a cost of more than $400,000, each statue is 14-feet tall, atop three feet of steps and a four-foot base. Nearby the statues are several park benches -- making the plaza area a great place to sit and soak up the majesty of Lambeau Field.
On game days, fans benefit from many of the same 21st-century amenities typically found in the shiny but sterile, newer facilities that have sprouted up across the country in recent years -- everything from wider concourses (including a new, upper concourse) to enhanced concession areas to modernized and increased restroom facilities (particularly for female fans), to a club level for private box and club seat patrons.
Two new scoreboards also highlighted the project. Developed by Daktronics, Inc., of Brookings, S.D., the boards -- one each in the north and south end zones -- measure 41 feet high and 162 feet wide. Both feature full-color LED video displays of 27 feet high by 48 feet wide, in addition to scoring, statistical and general information panels.
The 32-month, $295 million redevelopment of Lambeau was completed on time -- and on budget -- with the Packers remaining in Green Bay to play all of their games throughout the process. Put into motion by a county-wide referendum that approved a half-cent sales tax increase on Sept. 12, 2000, the project was financed jointly by the City of Green Bay, county taxpayers, the Packers and the NFL.
The Packers' football facilities -- a vital element in attracting players in today's ultra-competitive NFL -- also were enhanced greatly by the stadium's redevelopment, debuting in time for the 2002 season. The centerpiece of these quarters is a breathtaking, 64- by 120-foot, football-shaped locker room with 64 stately, wooden lockers. Another 25 lockers can be found in an adjoining, auxiliary locker room, to be utilized during training camp.
The new football facilities also feature a much larger training room with all of the latest therapy pools as well as a permanent X-ray machine, a new weight room, individual position meeting rooms with theatre-style seating, a 150-plus seat team auditorium, a basketball court with a parquet wood floor, a racquetball court, a team dining room and a players' lounge.
Not forgetting the Packers' rich tradition and history at Lambeau Field, then-GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman requested three slabs of concrete that were located in the team's former field tunnel at the north end -- which were walked over by many of the greatest players in club history -- to be moved to the new tunnel in the southeast corner; the players began using during the 2002 season. A nearby plaque recognizes the presence of the concrete from the old tunnel.
In July 2002, all of the team's administrative and football operations offices also relocated to within the Lambeau Field Atrium on the stadium's east side.
Other benefits realized through the redevelopment project include a modern system of field lights that is more than eight times brighter than the previous stadium lights and a new visiting team locker room. Also, a larger, more comfortable and modern press box that can seat in excess of 250 media members for a playoff game -- and positioned along the sidelines -- debuted in 2002. In 2003, the press box was renamed "The Lee Remmel Press Box" in honor of the former newspaper sportswriter and public relations director and now team historian's better than half-century of close association with the organization.
Opened in 1957, Lambeau Field had seen numerous smaller-scale changes through the years, including seven prior seating expansions and the addition of private boxes. But, as new stadiums rose throughout the NFL in the 1990s, Lambeau Field became outdated. As a publicly-owned team, the Packers must generate a significant amount of income from their home to remain competitive. Challenges with capacity, as well as the need for updated private boxes plus more club seats, restrooms and concessions, made redevelopment a necessity.
Faced with these challenges, the organization went to work in October 1999, assembling a plan to protect 80 years of Packers history and ensure the club's continued viability. After several feasibility studies and overwhelming support for renovation, as opposed to building a new stadium, the redevelopment plan was dubbed the proper course of action. Unveiled in January 2000, the plan ultimately won voter approval that September with the hard work of people committed to preserving pro sports' most unique franchise.
"Our fans overwhelmingly asked us to save Lambeau Field," then-president and CEO Bob Harlan said. "This plan accomplishes that while giving the Packers an economic base to build for the future in Green Bay. We want this to be the No. 1 destination in Wisconsin. We're going to build a stadium that the rest of the National Football League wished it had."
Included in the redeveloped stadium are more than 11,600 additional seats, including roughly 6,000 more bowl seats, to increase Lambeau's capacity to 72,928. Over 4,000 of the new seats were available for use during the 2002 season with construction ongoing.
The block of new seats helped the Packers to remove almost 1,500 names from their season ticket waiting list -- which still has more than 74,000 names on it -- between both ticket packages. Additionally, Brown County residents without season tickets have a chance to purchase the remaining 4,000 new bowl tickets on a game-by-game basis; in 2007, 10,000 residents were randomly selected from a list and were able to purchase four tickets. Disabled-accessible seats also increased dramatically through the development project, rising from 56 to 733.