On Tuesday in Queens, the USTA officially unveiled the new roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, the main venue of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where the U.S. Open is played each year. ENLARGEA retractable roof for Arthur Ashe Stadium, which opened in 1997 and holds 23,771 people, has long been on the USTA’s wish list. “The inclusion of the retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium now truly makes the U.S. Open the ultimate center stage for the sport of tennis,” said USTA Executive Director Gordon Smith. Also unveiled Tuesday was the expanded Grandstand Stadium, which was moved from the northeast corner of the tennis center, where it had been attached to Louis Armstrong Stadium, to the southwest corner. The 6,500-ton structure, designed by the Michigan-based architecture firm Rossetti, operates more as an umbrella than a roof.

Source: Wall Street Journal August 03, 2016 00:22 UTC