LENEXA, Kan. — Jordan Bartholomew will watch the Kansas City Chiefs play in Super Bowl LIX in person in New Orleans, but he doesn’t have a ticket—he has a working pass.
Bartholomew is technically on call, ready to step up and solve any problems at the Caesars Superdome should they arise, though he’s confident there won’t be any problems.
Bartholomew is a sports practice manager at Henderson Engineers in Lenexa. The firm is the engineer of record on a five-year, $560 million renovation to the Superdome.
The project meant Bartholomew took about 65 trips to New Orleans to help design and build new restrooms, elevators, escalators, bars, restrooms, field-level suites and the visitor’s locker room and upgrade Wi-Fi and electrical and mechanical systems.
“It was a very large project, large scale, with a lot of demos of existing stuff and rebuilding. Every time a wall came down, something new was found,” Bartholomew recalled. “Lots of challenges all around.”
Henderson Engineers also faced challenges at the Superdome in 2005. The firm worked on the stadium after Hurricane Katrina severely damaged the building.
Russ Murdock said the relationships Henderson formed then led to the Superdome calling on Henderson again in 2019.
“Our motto is essentially being there for the life of the building,” Murdock said. “That’s something we live into every day.”
Murdock said most of the upgrades Henderson Engineers did at the Superdome will be invisible to people watching the game at home.
Back in 2019, Murdock knew he’d watch the Super Bowl, but he didn’t know his hometown team would be playing.
“What we didn’t anticipate was being able to watch the Chiefs for the third year in a row in the Super Bowl, right? The Chiefs qualified for the Super Bowl the last three years, so you’re thinking there is no chance in the world we’re going to be able to host, in our newly unveiled building, our hometown team. But wow, what a cool thing to be watching throughout the year,” Murdock said.
Henderson Engineers said several other Kansas City area companies worked on the Superdome project. Thornton Tomasettiserved as the structural engineer. Zahner was the architectural metal fabricator and supplier. Trahan Architectswas the architect of record. Broadmoor, LLCwas the project’s general contractor.
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