This Dome sticks out like an alien construction. A huge metallic silver construction that you can’t miss.
I took the tour of the inside of the building and was greatly impressed. You get to see the stadium, the athletes dressing rooms, bathroom, restaurant. You get to sit in the VIP seats, walk on the pitch, stand on the pitching mound and bases. You can throw a ball in the practice den if you like. Then the icing on the cake is to go up the 60m aerial escalator – the most amazing escalator I’ve seen – to the observatory. 53m above ground level the observatory offers a breathtaking view of the city. There are many photo opportunities.
Another amazing thing I saw, was a person sitting in their wheelchair riding that long long escalator up to the observatory – isn’t that amazing, sitting in a wheelchair and riding up and down an escalator, hands free and no one holding on to the wheelchair, must be the first escalator in the world to be able to do that, right? How customer friendly is that?
Just outside the dome is the football pitch. When football is going to be played, the glass windows of the stadium slides open, the seats slides away and the pitch glides into the stadium settling over the baseball pitch. It is the only football pitch that hovers 7.5cm on air pressure. Of course we didn’t see this change over from baseball to football arena, (the whole process takes some 11 hours or so) but we did see the video showing how it all happens and it is amazing to watch.
This Dome is not only for sports (baseball, football, marathon and other sporting events) it is used for concerts and local events, so it plays a big part in the local community.
There are restaurants, souvenir shops.
Parking (small fee) or a short walk from the station.
I recommend anyone who visits Sapporo to go on this tour – it is modern architecture built with pride taking into account everything that would make the ticket holder enjoy their visit.
