What does this update entail?
The purpose of this update is to make fans aware that the design of the upcoming Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field renovation has been finalized, and to communicate the updates from the original concept that was announced in 2024.
The design process begins with a preliminary concept, which was announced in 2024. After the preliminary concept and budget are approved, an architect and project manager are hired and the concept undergoes expansive analysis to ensure feasibility – effectively, structurally and budgetarily.
The final design that is being shared today follows the analysis that was conducted by the project’s architect, project manager and Georgia Tech staff over the past 20 months.
What is the timeline for the renovation project?
The construction timeline remains the same as originally communicated in 2024. Construction will begin immediately following the conclusion of the 2026 football season and is expected to be completed before the beginning of the 2027 season.
This summer, Georgia Tech will announce a list of 100 improvements to the gameday experience at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field that will be implemented prior to the 2026 season, ahead of the renovation project that will be completed in 2027.
What is different from the original concept?
The majority of the project remains virtually the same as the original concept from 2024.
The most significant adjustment to the original concept involves chairback seating within the stadium.
The project’s preliminary concept included replacing existing bleacher seating with chairback seating throughout the stadium, with the exception of student sections.
The final design has 12,500 chairback seats.
Why were the number of chairback seats adjusted?
As the project evolved and analysis completed through the course of the design process, the architect and construction manager identified that some of the originally proposed elements – specifically chairback seating throughout the stadium – are either:
- Functionally unfeasible within the existing structure of the stadium;
- Or could only be accomplished through a substantial increase to the project budget (likely more than doubling the original financial investment).
Why was the preliminary concept unfeasible?
Like many older venues (Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field is 113 years old – the oldest on-campus stadium in major college football), the stadium has much narrower tread depths than today’s industry standards.
Tread depths are the horizontal measurement from the front edge of one row of seating to the front edge of the row directly behind it.
Today’s industry standard for chair-seating tread depths is 33 inches, and the minimum to install a flip-up chairback system is 30 inches. Tread depths for the majority of Bobby Dodd Stadium’s seats range from 25.75 to 27 inches.
Therefore, to install flip-up chairback seating throughout Bobby Dodd Stadium, there were only two options:
- Eliminate every other row of the stadium, which would have drastically reduced capacity;
- Demolish and reconstruct significant portions of the stadium, which would be extremely costly and likely not be able to be completed in a single offseason.
Why 12,500 seats?
- The tread depths in the upper east remain too narrow even for bleacher-mounted chairbacks.
- Comfortable spacing for the non-flip mesh chairbacks is 20 inches per seat, as compared to the current 18 inches per seat, which results in a loss of seating capacity.
- As part of the fan experience improvements included in the design, aisles will be widened and handrails added in most sections where new seats are installed, which will result in further decreased capacity.
When considering all of the factors, and in the interest of not reducing stadium capacity to levels that would greatly affect Georgia Tech fans’ opportunities to attend games and events at Bobby Dodd Stadium, the decision was made to install 12,500 chairback seats.
What will the new chairback seats be like?
Based on the analysis, the best and most responsible solution for adding chairbacks is attached chairback seats, which are affixed directly to the stadium’s existing bleachers.
Many industry-leading bleacher-attached chairback seats were tested. Several were too tight for the stadium’s constraints – they would lead to insufficient legroom for individuals over 6-feet tall.
Testing identified that a bleacher-mounted, non-flip-up mesh chairback seat could be installed without sacrificing fans’ safety, comfort or experience.
Fans were invited to test seats during Georgia Tech football’s spring game in April. The seats received positive reviews, which led to the final decision that the bleacher-mounted, non-flip-up mesh seats would be the chairback solution for Bobby Dodd Stadium.