COLUMBUS, Ohio – Columbus Crew SC broke ground on its new downtown stadium Thursday afternoon.
According to a plan approved earlier this year by Columbus City Council, the stadium construction is expected to start on October 29, 2019 and “substantial completion” of the stadium is expected on July 1, 2021.
Hours before Thursday's ceremony, the team announced they reached an agreement to purchase the land needed for the stadium from Nationwide Realty Investors that will close at the end of the month.
The stadium will include a steep seating bowl and the stadium’s wrap-around roof will provide protection over each stand. The roof will also amplify the crowd noise back to the pitch.
The team says the stadium will be divided into four unique stands and each will have its own identity and design:
- The stadium’s West stand will be near the player tunnel and feature player seating, player box seats, pitch side club seats, concourse club seats and a lounge, and a suite level with unique “ledge seats” cantilevered in front of suites
- The East stand will include field suites and a lounge, a concourse club, reserved seating, and an upper stand with general admission seating featuring elevated concourse with views to downtown
- The North stand will consist of the new Nordecke supporter section – inspired by the current location of the Nordecke, an integrated tifo rigging system, capo stands, two patio decks and the Nordecke Beer Garden – the first beer garden in MLS
- The South stand will be near a videoboard, including a lower and upper bowl with general seating and a bar overlooking Nationwide Boulevard, and include a brew hall – a 5,000 square feet soccer pub with open views to the entrance plaza and downtown that will be open on non-matchdays to support a variety of local community events
The stadium will also feature an open 360-degree concourse connecting the Nordecke Beer Garden in the north, the feature bars in the south, and the public plaza in the southeast.
Construction of the public sports park and Crew SC training facility where MAPFRE Stadium sits now is scheduled for February 14, 2020 and June 1, 2020 respectively.
Phase one of the park is expected to be done by June 30, 2022.
