Rendering of the completed US Open Grounds. Source: USTA
Jan. 8, 2016 By Jackie Strawbridge
Design plans for the final step in the sweeping, $500 million renovation of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center will go before Queens and City officials next week.
On Monday, the USTA will present their plans for the new, 15,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium at a meeting of the City’s Public Design Commission in the afternoon, and then to the Queens Borough Board in the evening.
Construction of a new Louis Armstrong Stadium is the last element of the transformation of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, located at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, where the U.S. Open is played. This project kicked off in 2014 and also includes a new Grandstand Stadium and new roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium.
USTA spokesperson Brendan McIntyre said that the “entire project” will be discussed at these meetings, including the stadium’s footprint, seating layouts, fan amenities and aesthetics.
According to Parks Department officials, the designs are in the preliminary phase, so a final design and then permitting process would need to take place before construction can begin.
Construction on the new Louis Armstrong Stadium will begin after this year’s U.S. Open, McIntyre said. It will be operational for the 2017 U.S. Open but not in its final form, and complete by the 2018 Open.
The Queens Borough Board meeting will take place on Jan. 11 at 5:30 p.m. at Queens Borough Hall, 120-55 Queens Blvd., according to Queens Borough President Melinda Katz.
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