Superior Dome

The Superior Dome is a football ground and a box of many rooms. Its white wooden shell — the world’s largest wooden dome — sits on Presque Isle Avenue in Marquette, Michigan, on the campus of Northern Michigan University. The exterior was finished in August 1991, though the interior facilities were not completed until May 1995, and the dome officially opened on 14 September 1991 with a football game between Northern Michigan and Indianapolis attended by 7,942 spectators.

What makes the place different is its interior machinery. The playing surface is an artificial retractable Astroturf carpet, the largest retractable turf carpet of its kind in the world. It takes approximately 30 minutes to retract and about two hours for full setup. When retracted, the underlying synthetic surface reveals three basketball or volleyball courts, two tennis courts, and a 200-metre track. The capacity is 8,000 for regular football games, though the building can accommodate up to 16,000 people for special events. The venue hosts football, soccer, and field hockey.

The structure has never had an official name change or sponsor-related renaming; it has been called the Superior Dome since opening. Informal local nicknames include ‘Yooper Dome’ and ‘Steel Dome’, the latter referencing its original silver colour. The total construction cost was $23.9 million, and the dome was built by general contractor R.E. Dailey & Company with architectural design by TMP Associates.