Flying High Over Falcon Stadium
Falcon Stadium Kucera Legacy Center | Colorado Springs, Colorado
Completed as GE Johnson Construction Company
The east side of the U.S. Air Force Academy's Falcon Stadium received new and improved amenities to provide fans with a world-class experience.
Partners
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Client U.S. Air Force Academy
About The Project
The Falcon Stadium Kucera Legacy Center modernizes the east side of the stadium, replacing the existing east concourse with the new East Club, featuring 1,200 premium seats and a state-of-the-art, club-level experience. The project also provided the U.S. Air Force Academy with a modern and efficient entrance, a heritage plaza, open-air hospitality decks, a team store, and large-scale commercial food and beverage options to service a variety of events, from an entire game day event with several thousand visitors to a high-class VIP event in the club area.
Other amenities included new merchandise areas, a new ticket office, new administrative office areas, significantly expanded restrooms, and a new VIP entrance and lobby with private experiences, escalators and elevators. The project also included a complete sports stadium lighting package with new, high-quality LED lighting to meet NCAA requirements.
Fast Facts
- By logging every item into Procore's inspection items, punch list, and observations mechanisms, we were able to track and resolve every item on time and within budget.
- Each member of our internal project team completed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Construction Quality Management (CQM) Course.
- After accelerating the schedule, our safety program was adjusted to accommodate 40% more workers onsite at a given time, often operating within the same congested areas together.
- The VIP entrance escalators are the only escalators owned and operated by the Air Force.
Complex Demolition
Construction activities included multiple phases of demolition, including:
- A complex demolition and abatement of the old facilities and a section of the existing lower concrete seating bowl.
- A complex north tunnel demolition with engineered tie-back walls.
- An engineered elevated demolition of the existing seating area above the tunnel section.
Active Stadium Construction
The project team managed several high-profile events throughout construction. During game days at Falcon Stadium, upwards of 40,000 fans and visitors were in attendance, walking around an active construction site.
Heightening the level of safety and awareness even further, the President of the United States attended the U.S. Air Force Academy's graduation ceremony in the stadium during the first year of construction, and the Vice President of the United States attended graduation during the second year.
Our team met these challenges with zero safety incidents.
Innovating Above Falcon Stadium
The project faced a tremendous challenge accessing the field-side exterior elevations, as these hung over Falcon Stadium's lower bowl and often reached 100 feet over the lower bowl.
In the middle of the project, the project team developed a "rated stage" scaffolding system over the lower bowl to allow heavy lifts onto the field-side elevations, providing the safest work platforms possible.
This adjustment accelerated construction activities and provided timely completion of the entire exterior without incident.
Complex Demolition
Construction activities included multiple phases of demolition, including:
- A complex demolition and abatement of the old facilities and a section of the existing lower concrete seating bowl.
- A complex north tunnel demolition with engineered tie-back walls.
- An engineered elevated demolition of the existing seating area above the tunnel section.
Active Stadium Construction
The project team managed several high-profile events throughout construction. During game days at Falcon Stadium, upwards of 40,000 fans and visitors were in attendance, walking around an active construction site.
Heightening the level of safety and awareness even further, the President of the United States attended the U.S. Air Force Academy's graduation ceremony in the stadium during the first year of construction, and the Vice President of the United States attended graduation during the second year.
Our team met these challenges with zero safety incidents.
Innovating Above Falcon Stadium
The project faced a tremendous challenge accessing the field-side exterior elevations, as these hung over Falcon Stadium's lower bowl and often reached 100 feet over the lower bowl.
In the middle of the project, the project team developed a "rated stage" scaffolding system over the lower bowl to allow heavy lifts onto the field-side elevations, providing the safest work platforms possible.
This adjustment accelerated construction activities and provided timely completion of the entire exterior without incident.
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