Three new exit doors plus a fourth 'overhead' door are planned to help alleviate congestion at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, it was announced on Tuesday.
The $185,000 cost for the doors will be paid by Arthur Blank organization. The three exit doors will open from the upper decks of the stadium onto the fan plaza facing downtown Atlanta. The 'overhead' door is suitable for loading in gear as well as allowing fans to exit the stadium.
As most folks recall, access to Mercedes Benz Stadium at the National College Football Championship Game was slowed quite a bit by the presence of President Trump and the Secret Service precautions that were necessary by his being there.
PHOTOS: President Donald Trump at National Championship Game
Stadium officials said they tried to get the president to change his itinerary before his visit, but the White House would not budge. When President Trump announced his desire to attend the game, it became a logistical nightmare and a security challenge for the folks running the stadium.
"The stadium organization and the Falcons team tried to communicate with the White House to say maybe you can come after the kickoff," said one official.
The president's staff declined, and Trump was on the field when the national anthem played. To make that happen, the stadium had to close one of the four entrances to the stadium, diverting some 16,000 fans to the other three gates. And because of Trump's presence, the Secret Service and federal TSA agents handled security instead of the private contractors who normally handle it during most events.
Entry for some fans was delayed for as long as two to three hours, which meant that some who arrived early said they ended up missing the first part of the football game - though stadium officials counter that all of those fans who were delayed did make it into the stadium before kickoff.
"I think for almost anybody who was in the line, it was the worst athletic experience that they ever had," said Brian Robinson. He says once he got in, the experience was great -- the security experience, however, wasn't.
"The security that normally works the stadium was told to leave and all new people brought in," he said. "The feds didn't bring in enough magnetometers. It was airport security level, so even the smallest thing was setting it off. It was 30 to 40 seconds for every person."
The Georgia World Congress Center Authority board met Tuesday afternoon with a post-mortem on the experiences tied to the College Football National Championship being foremost on the agenda.
"It's disappointing," said College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock a few days afterward. "And I'm very sorry that fans were inconvenienced. When you have a presidential visit, security trumps everything, so to speak, and we're just very sorry that people were inconvenienced."
Next time, officials say the will insist the president come later and will decline to allow the Secret Service to close an entire entrance. The stadium is already adjusting the stadium with the four new exit doors.
The mobile ticketing digital app had been criticized for a lack of adequate cell phone service at the stadium, which prevented fans from accessing their electronic tickets on their smartphones -- causing even more delays.
Some of the members of the World Congress Center Authority board were among those delayed outside the stadium due to the delays.
Along with the costs for the new doors, some unspecified additional costs are being discussed to improve the stadium's audio.
Members of the board complained during the meeting about being unable to hear referees at games along with pregame events and other activities during the College Football Championship Game. This mimics sound complaints that came from concertgoers at the Garth Brooks concert last October.
