PANSTADIA & ARENA MANAGEMENT 3RD QUARTER 2020 HOMETOWN PRIDE

Erin Kueht and Bart Miller of Walter P Moore explain how Louisville City FC is leading a revolution in stadium development in the .

Image credit: Messer Construction

Image credit: EM Dash Photography s our passion for professional success of LouCity [on the pitch] was Asoccer has exploded in the critical. No one supports a loser on a Transforming United States, Major League long-term basis, and if our boys hadn’t the Skyline Soccer (MLS) has enjoyed rapid and come out of the gates with winning well-documented expansion. soccer, we would have failed without The defining element in the stadium a doubt.” design is the distinctive, copper-coloured The United Soccer League (USL), the shade canopy, essential for fan comfort second-tier professional soccer league Gameday Experience in the humid Louisville summers. in the U.S., has also seen extraordinary growth in support and popularity, which Reflecting current design trends in Inspired by the copper stills used in the is reflected in a new generation of the MLS and growing expectations production of bourbon whiskey, the stadiums across the league. among the fanbase, Lynn Family traditional spirit of Kentucky, the curving Stadium provides numerous premium canopy tightly wraps the upper seating The current crown jewel of soccer- seating options and amenities, a bowl to create intimacy and amplify specific USL stadiums is Lynn Family signature shade canopy, and distinctive crowd noise, but then turns skyward Stadium, home to the Louisville City inspired by the local at the outer edge to support vertically- Football Club. community. Designed by international oriented sports lighting fixtures. sports architect HOK of Kansas “LouCity,” based in Louisville, Kentucky, This innovative application of sports City, , the $65 million venue has seen unprecedented success in the lighting is a first for the USL. Designers incorporates an exclusive safe standing USL since its inception in 2014, winning at HOK and Walter P Moore collaborated section for the club’s supporter group— back-to-back USL Cup Championships in to develop an iterative, digital process the Coopers, seven bars with direct 2017 and 2018 and reaching the USL Cup that rationalised the complex geometry views to the pitch and an open north Final again in 2019. and identified a more repetitive and concourse that features a massive, Building upon this momentum and the cost-effective support structure, two-sided video board, and ample fervent support of the local community, thereby maximising shaded area for a standing room with a covered bar. The LouCity has unveiled an iconic new target cost. riverfront location provides fans with stadium, deserving of the widespread breathtaking views of the city’s bridges “We felt that we were building not only support it has earned on the pitch. over the Ohio River and the downtown a soccer stadium, but a show piece for “The goal of the project was simple—to Louisville skyline. The 11,600-seat our city,” Estes adds. “At the crossroads create sustainability for professional venue is poised to spark and anchor of three major interstates, we wanted soccer in Louisville,” says Brad Estes, new development in the fast-growing to show the world what Louisville had to President of Louisville City FC. “The Butchertown neighbourhood. offer.” n

62 feature ROOFING A World-Class Innovative Structure

World’s largest ETFE cable net roof structure

World’s first application ofroof micro-operability over a Sports Entertainment Venue

Project Role Structural Engineering Enclosure Engineering Construction Engineering

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