Champions Square is an outdoor festival plaza located adjacent to

Caesars Superdome Caesars Superdome (originally Louisiana Superdome and formerly Mercedes-Benz Superdome), commonly known as the Superdome, is a domed multi-purpose stadium in the Southern United States, southern United States, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. It is known as the premier tailgating space for sports events held at the stadium and the nearby

Smoothie King Center Smoothie King Center (locally referred to as SKC) is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located in the Central Business District, New Orleans, Central Business District, adjacent to the Caesars ...

. The plaza also consists of an outdoor

amphitheater An amphitheatre ( U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for vie ...

, known as Bold Sphere Music (often referred to as "Blue Sphere Stage"). The venue was reopened April 25, 2014, with a concert by

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Lana Del Rey discography, Her music is noted for its melancholic exploration of Glamour (presentation), glamor and Romanc ...

. The amphitheater has seating for up to 9,000 spectators for special events, 7,000 in a general admission setting and 4,500 for reseated seating.

History

The site was originally the location of the Girod Street Cemetery from 1822 to 1957. The cemetery was moved prior to the construction of the Superdome, and subsequently the New Orleans Centre

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

was erected on the site. In 2005, the shopping mall closed due to

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. The shopping mall never re-opened, and was almost entirely demolished in the Spring of 2010 to begin construction of Champions Square. The former Macy's department store area and the parking garage, now called "Champions Garage", are the only remnants of the original shopping mall.

Features

The 121,000 square-foot plaza is centered on the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Smoothie King Center,

Hyatt Regency Hyatt Regency is a brand of hotels under the Hyatt banner. The brand contains 211 locations in 189 cities over 40 countries, and is one of the company's 14 hotel brands overall. It tends to cater to business travelers. Locations Locations inc ...

, Benson Tower, and numerous parking garages and food courts. Phase I included the construction of the plaza and staircase leading from the Superdome. Construction initially began in the Spring of 2010 and Champions Square formally opened August 21, 2010. Phase II further improved the square following the 2010-2011 NFL season with the installation of a new permanent grand staircase with amphitheater seating, permanent restroom facilities, stone pavement, LED lighting, palm trees, and a vine wall spanning the length of the plaza alongside the Superdome. Before each NFL football game, the square hosts concerts which are free and open to the public. The square is only open to pedestrian traffic. Inside the square, there are numerous food and beverage options either in the food court or outside under tents. Champions Square has become the site for the annual "Gleason Gras", whose purpose is to raise awareness and funds for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Future expansion

In 2013 construction was completed on a four level balcony added to the southern side Benson Tower overlooking the square. The addition also houses a secondary studio for the Benson-owned

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

station

WVUE-DT WVUE-DT (channel 8) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Gray Media, the station maintains primary studios on Howard Avenue in New Orleans, with a secondary studio within t ...

(Channel 8), which airs their morning newscasts, Saints and sports-related programming from that facility. ''

The Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune , The New Orleans Advocate'' (commonly called ''The Times-Picayune'' or the ''T-P'') is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ancestral publications of other names date back to January 25, 1837. The cu ...

'' reported on August 15, 2010, that Phase III would include building out the façade and adding a permanent food court, and would be completed sometime after New Orleans hosted

Super Bowl XLVII Super Bowl XLVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

in 2013. Beyond that, planners have envisioned the area will be successful enough to build a residential tower sprouting out of the top of the former Macy's department store space.

References

{{Music venues of Louisiana Buildings and structures in New Orleans Music venues in Louisiana Caesars Superdome 2010 establishments in Louisiana

History

Features

Future expansion

See also

References