Original subtitles

But it's gonna be colossal.

Narrator: Jim wilson is the guy who keeps this time motivated.

Wilson: There's a lot of pride, I think,

That these men and women in the trades take.

They want to be here and get it done on time.

Narrator: More than 500 people are renovating wrigley field.

We'll need just as many people to build our new colosseum.

Most modern stadiums are built in two years or less,

So that's how long we'll plan for as well.

500 people working for two years at today's wages

Adds up to about $100 million.

We haven't added up the final bill yet,

And we work around the clock to get it done.

To make that money back, we'll have to fill up our arena

Over and over and over.

2,000 years ago, the vicious gladiator

Competitions consistently filled the seats.

♪

It was so brutal and so gruesome,

It really goes against everything

That we think today is civilized behavior.

But rome was a very martial society.

It was a society that was built on military power.

Narrator: The roman games weren't just brutal,

One of the major expenses in a building

We work with the world's greatest engineers

Who figure out things that I can only describe.

Like can we make that roof just split apart and move?

And they actually figure out the science behind that,

And then a contractor has to come in and figure out

How they take those buildings and build it for a certain cost.

Narrator: But where will we find the right people we'll need

To get the job done?

Narrator: 2,000 years ago,

The colosseum was built by rome's enslaved enemies.

♪

They were grueling, lasting up to 100 days.

Like this is manpower.

Now that wasn't really a problem for somebody like the emperor

Because it was a slave society.

There was an infinite amount of manpower available.

Narrator: Today, we have very different ethical standards,

And we plan to pay people fair wages for their hard work.

♪

Here at wrigley field, they're working night and day

To squeeze two years' worth of work

Into baseball's six-month off-season.

We all work together,

Macdonald: So we're standing here at 11:00 at night,

Are masters of the fine art of the quick turnaround.

This state-of-the-art arena seats 20,000

And averages at least one event every single day.

♪

As a venue last year,

We did about 385 events of various sizes.

Narrator: It's a 24/7 operation.

Tonight, a concert.

Tomorrow, a hockey game.

And in-between, dozens of people moving with clockwork precision

To make it happen.

The crew at rogers place in edmonton, canada

And we've got the tour loading out behind us.

In a little over seven hours, we'll need to be turning the ice

Back over to the nhl team for practice.

Narrator: Rogers place is an example of how we can turn the next

Colosseum into an entertainment center that meets every need.

We wanted a venue that would cater to the wide

Variety of tenants,

So whether it's live entertainment,

The concerts, the comedy shows, the hockey side,

All of those important things these days.

In a modern arena, every event requires unique modifications.

Below ground and tiers of spectators above.

As the centuries passed, the colosseum played host

To even more elaborate spectacles.

Between having the ability of storing animals

And bringing them into an event

Or the gladiatorial floor for a fight

Or even the idea of flooding it for a naval battle,

It really was seen as a multi-purpose,

Multi-event kind of building

That added a lot to the flexibility

And their true spectacle.

Narrator: The ancient colosseum accommodated people and animals

Meis: It takes a huge team of people.

Our new colosseum will have to be adaptable

To today's spectator sports.

Meis: In a modern arena, we might have a basketball game

In the afternoon and a hockey game that night

And a concert later that night, so they have to be designed

In a way that all of the support functions, the marshaling areas,

The floor transition from court to ice, for example,

All of that has to be super-flexible and super-easy.

Narrator: We're going to need a building that can adapt,

Not just day to day, but hour to hour.

So let's tally up the score cards -- steel or stone?

Which is extremely fast for the project size as a whole.

Narrator: Structural steel sounds like a good option, but steel rusts.

Will it hold up to harsh winter weather?

One inherent disadvantage is just that,

As it is a steel material, it is susceptible to corrosion.

Narrator: The keep steel in optimal working condition it's painted

With a zinc-rich primer.

Zinc protects steel from corrosive forces like moisture,

Acid rain, and uv rays,

But it can only shield the steel for so long.

It's just a matter of decades before the zinc corrodes, too.

In a little under eight months,

Steel is cheaper.

Stone is more expensive.

Stone lasts longer.

Steel needs a coat of paint every 30 years.

Steel is adaptable and flexible.

Stone is stately and reverent.

Steel is fast and easy to build with.

Stone -- not so much.

Okay, that's five points for steel

And three points for stone.

That's a win for steel,

That's the goal in st. Paul, minnesota where crews

Spectacular stone archways nearly 2,000 years ago,

Countless stadiums have been constructed

All around the world,

But not all of them followed the ancient roman model.

Ochsendorf: Romans were building for durability.

When we build a stadium today,

We build in a much lighter way with materials

That are not as durable,

Narrator: Today, many builders are opting to use steel,

A much more affordable building material than stone.

But can we build a steel stadium that will last for centuries?

No matter what game you're playing.

Are working through the winter

To complete a new major league soccer stadium

Called allianz field.

They're building with steel and lots of it.

Barton: The base-building material, the structural steel --

All around the stadium there's about 4,000 tons of steel.

Narrator: Steel is one of the most popular building materials

For modern stadiums,

And there's a good reason for that.

They erected the entire steel frame here

Of the total maintenance costs.

We're building a colossal plastic coating

Over a frame of concrete and steel.

And we can fabricate massive pieces of mesh

To mimic the travertine exterior of the old colosseum.

And while we're keeping one eye on the bottom line,

We have to keep another eye on the future.

How are we going to manage the upkeep of all this concrete,

Steel, and plastic?

Remember, our steel skeleton

Needs to be repainted every ten years,

And that represents just a fraction

Narrator: So that settles it.

Any building that you decide to erect

With the material you're going to use,

You're going to have a plan for maintenance

And upkeep that is a 100-years plan.

And that should be taking conservation from day one.

It's all about the planning.

Narrator: So let's bump up our budget by 10%

To cover the cost of maintenance over the next 1,000 years.

Now we know where we're going to build it

And what we're going to make it out of.

But how many people is it going to take?

So you get the best of both worlds.

♪

To give our new colosseum the same dignified

Look as the original,

But we need a listen in new age materials.

In minnesota, they used a translucent screen

To wrap up their steel stadium.

This is the first project that we're using this ptfe material.

Ptfe stands for polytetrafluoroethylene,

And it's a fiberglass mesh that's laminated with a polymer.

Barton: Laminate provides that hard,

Protective coating on the stadium shelf,

The construction work never ends.

You get protection, but you also get transparency.

Narrator: Ptfe is more commonly known as teflon

And stitching it into a stadium calls

For some international collaboration.

It's a lot like a quilt

Where they make the material in the usa,

And then they ship it over to china

And the different patches of the quilt are put together in china,

And then they fold it up into a crate

And then ship it back to site here where we install it.

Then dressed it in space-age plastic

In the year 80 a.D.

♪

We've set our opening date for April 21st,

The anniversary of the founding of rome.

Imagine a new colosseum -- bigger, better,

Grand enough to host olympics, world cups,

And all the spectacles you can dream of thousands of years

Into the future.

We did it.

We built our colosseum right outside of rome.

We made it a concrete-and-steel skeleton,

His son titus finally oversaw the inaugural games

To look like the original, but last even longer.

It took a team of 500 people two years, working around the clock.

So what's all that going to cost us?

Well, we've tallied up the price of the materials and labor

And even added extra for design fees and maintenance.

The final price tag?

$2.5 billion for a stadium that will last 2,000 years.

Most modern stadiums don't last 100.

Since our dream project will last so long,

We'll have much longer to pay off the bills.

So what's all that going to cost us?

There are clubs and private boxes and restaurants

A brilliant use of leverage mechanics

Powered by a human hamster wheel.

♪

When the steel skeleton takes its shape,

We're on to build phase three.

Time to install the stadium skin,

Our plastic recreation

Of what the original colosseum may have looked like.

With all that wrapped up, it's time for the fourth

And final phase -- the interior work.

♪

So why don't we build sports arenas to last that long anyway?

That really start to fill in the show.

But it takes to about two-and-a-half to three years

To get to that point where it's ready to turn

On the lights and first game.

Narrator: Once completed, our modern-day colosseum

Will rival the ancient romans'.

And though the events held in our stadium

Will be very different than the original gladiator games,

Our two arenas may have more in common than we think.

Narrator: Emperor vespasian died before his colosseum even opened.

I'm not too hung up on that my buildings stand for 2,000 years

Stadium the way the romans built?

Probably not.

But can we learn some things from the way the romans built?

Absolutely.

Narrator: The events inside the next colosseum

Will be as different from ancient times

As plastic is from stone.

But the human desire to share the joy

Of watching a great competition or an extraordinary talent --

That's something that will last long after today's buildings

Are crumbled and ruined.

Ochsendorf: Does it make sense to build a future

As much as I like the idea that I'm playing a role

In what makes that event really an incredible thing to remember.

It's not the building.

It's the stage.

Narrator: We would need someone of wealth, power, and influence

To build a new colosseum,

But that's not why we built it.

The colosseum dream is to bring people together,

To experience something truly spectacular...

If we built it today.

♪

Differently than the ancient romans.

There's no lack of technology.

It comes down to changing tastes,

Changing needs, and economics.

If you truly believed that your sports team

Were going to be there 300 years from now,

Perhaps you would go back to roman technology

Of very durable materials,

Built in a geometry that's incredibly stable

So that it could last for centuries.

The question of who pays for this is an open question.

Narrator: To build our new colosseum, we had to do things

The romans used a treadwheel crane to raise their colosseum,

And the results are a little different, too.

But if people love it and take care of it,

Any stadium can have a long life.

Meis: When I think of the colosseum, I've always said that one of

The things that's really fascinating to me

Is that it has evolved far beyond what its original use was

And yet it is as valuable to the city now as it was then,

If not more.

Narrator: Though the original colosseum isn't quite what it used to be,

It's still bringing people together after all these years.

Plus 300 luxury sky boxes to hold another 10,000 people.

Our number-one money maker? Ticket sales.

And, unlike the ancient romans,

Our audiences will pay to get in.

Higgins: When you went to the amphitheater,

The good news is that it was usually free.

It was part of the emperor's gift to the people,

But the bad news is that you couldn't choose where you sat.

You had to sit according to your social class.

Narrator: You can have any seat in our house

As long as you're willing to pay.

We're planning more than 90,000 seats

But we have a plan to still turn a profit.

Max capacity -- 100,000.

Twice as many as the original colosseum.

Money maker number two -- merchandise, snacks,

And any other gimmicks we can come up with.

Today, we're designing kids' lands,

We're designing restaurants, souvenir shops.

There's all sorts of different ways to experience the game

Because that's what the fans want.

Being able to control the stadium and the revenues,

The parking, the food and beverage that people buy --

All of that really is a critical part

If they didn't do it in a way that was quick and efficient

Macdonald: Well, we're a quarter to 2:00 right now,

Probably running about 45 minutes to an hour behind.

Not finishing on time isn't an option.

Narrator: A major push is on to finish before the puck is dropped,

But that's nothing compared to the stress on roman stage crews.

The games had to be good.

They had to wow the people.

And that could be pretty brutal

For some of the people who worked there.

We know, for example, that the laborers

Who were changing the scenery, et cetera --

Of the business plan to a club.

And also part of the entertainment,

They could end up themselves being thrown to the animals.

Narrator: Even today, turnaround is where the game of stadium management

Is won or lost.

A stadium isn't just a big building, it's big business.

And if we want to stay in business

For the next 2,000 years, we've got to stay profitable.

♪

Narrator: It turns out that building a modern-day colosseum

Isn't going to be cheap,

Where all the backstage magic will happen.

After draining the lake, what they initially did

Was build a big doughnut of concrete,

And this was the foundation

Upon which this super-structure rests.

Narrator: To build our foundation,

We'll have to start from scratch.

This season -- we poured 29,000 cubic yards of concrete to day.

That's about a 20-story building.

We've done that in less than three months.

Narrator: Our concrete foundation will become

The new colosseum's basement

For nero's private pool.

Meis: So once we get to the point of having

That mean concourse to build on, the seating decks come up,

And you start to actually see it as the form of a stadium.

Narrator: Onto phase two -- assembling the structural steel frame

And installing the seating poles.

These brick-and-concrete vaults

Are the old colosseum's main structural elements.

The ancient colosseum featured

More than 70 arched entrance ways.

The steel for our new colosseum will arrive prefabricated,

Ready to be assembled with heavy-duty cranes.

The romans didn't have to figure in fees for players

Narrator: Money maker number three -- advertising and naming rights,

As relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago.

Giving games at the amphitheater,

Sponsoring them, being the person who paid for them

Was definitely a very big political advantage.

Narrator: Instead of bronze shields and statues,

Our new colosseum will be adorned with advertisements

And logos.

Between tickets, amenities, and sponsorships,

We think we can command $1 billion a year.

That's an average of $10,000 a seat.

Narrator: Since the first people walked through the colosseum's

And performers like we do, but we'll still come out ahead.

A steady cash flow makes today's colosseum

A mega-attraction for investors.

Now that we've done the math,

Our planning phase is almost over.

We'll construct our massive building outside rome

Like architect dan meis plans to do for his new stadium.

First things first, though, the foundation.

Emperor vespasian's crew had a head start on us here.

The ground they used had previously been excavated

We'll need to come prepared with a full proof plan.

Fares: Even if it cost a billion dollars,

I think the benefit to society outweigh the cost

When it's something that's going to be used and cherished

By the whole community.

Narrator: Today's stadiums can easily cost between $500 million

And $3 billion.

And they often fall apart before their 50th birthday.

Nowadays, it's team owners, not emperors,

That make our stadiums possible.

♪

But to get an owner to work with us,

Our modern mega-developer says we could and we should.

It's about the planning, and if you plan it right,

You will be on budget and on time,

And I think that's a key in success

In building any structure around the world.

Narrator: When the ancient romans began planning their colosseum,

The empire had just emerged from a civil war that ended

When general vespasian seized the crown.

He believed that the chariot races and gladiatorial games

Held in the colosseum would bring romans back together.

This was the new emperor's gift to the people of rome.

When vespasian built this,

Narrator: If we built solid-stone stadiums like the romans did,

And to create spectacle that could only happen in rome.

♪

Narrator: Inside these walls, gladiators fought to the death,

Battled lions, bears, and rhinos.

Many of the original columns are still standing more

Than a thousand years later.

[ cheering ]

Ochsendorf: Today, it's hard for us to imagine building for centuries.

We are often building disposable infrastructure today,

Infrastructure designed to last for a timescale of decades.

♪

He was really building something that was needed in rome

They'd last a lot longer.

To build a stadium that would last for thousands of years

Is almost inconceivably expensive for us to do today.

Narrator: Besides, modern stadiums are designed to make money,

Not history.

The main driver of building a modern stadium is revenue.

When someone's building a new stadium,

It's because we're now able to put in the kind of amenities

That drive revenues besides just the tickets.

Narrator: Can we build a colosseum that will turn a profit

And stay upright until the turn of the century?

But if we're really going to upset the champ,

Three tractable awnings, most of the floor,

And many of the interior walls are gone.

We'd want a colosseum tougher than that.

One that would have staying power and money-making power

For thousands of years,

But we've got our work cut out for us.

Building in rome -- well, there's a reason

Why they say it wasn't built in a day.

It's not an easy place to build.

Narrator: Today, we're building for a team owner

Who's gonna want a big, financial win,

Only a third of the original colosseum remains.

Our colosseum's got to be bigger, better,

And longer lasting than the romans.

So where are going to build it?

What's it going to look like?

What are we going to make it out of?

How long will it take to build?

How many people will we need?

And will it turn a profit or lead to financial ruin?

Narrator: In its prime, this state-of-the-art

Roman arena was home to fierce gladiatorial combat.

But after nearly 2,000 years,

But we still crave the unique excitement

And something that would have a big impact.

The new emperor wanted to build a monument

To the might of the empire,

But today's stadiums are more monuments to money.

If you build it, they will come,

And hopefully spend money to tickets, food, and souvenirs.

Meis: We're getting bigger and more expensive,

And all of that's reflected

In creating these giant palaces of sport.

Narrator: Today, it's pop stars and elite athletes

Who draw a crowd and not gladiators,

To create something on a scale that had not been seen before

Of being part of a sea of cheering fans.

Meis: People want to be in a communal experience.

The stadium or arena --

It gives the populace a home for that competition

And to demonstrate the power and superiority of their culture.

That was the big idea of the colosseum,

And I think it's true of a stadium today.

[ applause ]

♪

Narrator: After nearly 2,000 years,

-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

And newest modern materials to build the next colosseum.

Bigger, better, and built to last.

It's roman ruins versus 21st century super stadiums.

When we do a new stadium, we don't go into it thinking,

"wow, wouldn't this be a cool ruin?"

Narrator: Get ready for the main event.

We're on the job site of one of the world's greatest wonders,

And we're wondering how long would it take?

How much would it cost?

How many workers would we need?

Could we even do it if we built it today?

Narrator: Here's the plan -- we're rounding up the best minds

Captions paid for by discovery communications

The ancient romans ruled their empire

For nearly a thousand years.

They were known for their brutal regimes, extravagant lifestyles,

And their bold engineering solutions.

And they proved it with the construction

Of their massive colosseum in the year 80 a.D.

Ochsendorf: The colosseum is essentially an enormous stadium.

It's an amphitheater the size that the roman world

Had not seen before.

If you can imagine being a visitor, coming to rome,

The colosseum is famously the first and foremost example

An architectural wonder far ahead of its time

And the undisputed champion of sports stadiums

For the last 2,000 years.

The colosseum is a grand stage for spectacle.

This was a structure the scale of which romans

Had never seen before.

Narrator: It's the greatest of all time, pound for pound the most famous

And enduring stadium in history.

Even today, the colosseum is still the pride of the romans,

And it still draws quite a crowd just like it did

Almost 2,000 years.

This would be the biggest building you had ever seen.

Of what a stadium can mean to a city.

Narrator: But after being exposed to the elements for thousands of years,

The colosseum is showing its age.

Meis: It's a ruin, but one of the most important ruins on the planet,

So it has multiple lives.

Narrator: We want to construct a brand-new modern day version

Of the iconic arena for future generations to enjoy.

Could today's architects use the latest technology

To out-build the ancient romans?

We can do it, definitely.

And he's taking on the world's champion.

And retracted as needed to shade the spectators.

Narrator: Although today there are more than 4,000 stadiums

Across the globe,

The roman colosseum still holds the title

Of largest amphitheater ever built

And the greatest icon of political power.

After all, the roman empire was one of the mightiest in history.

There was a chance for rome to show how important they were,

That they really were the center of the world.

Narrator: Dan meis is the architect behind the staples center in l.A.

And the paul brown stadium in cincinnati.

Sails to be deployed

It was the center of culture and event for rome,

So it became a place everybody went to.

Narrator: Romans knew it as the amphitheatrum flavium

Because it was built during the flavian dynasty.

The colosseum was built as a way of entertaining romans,

But also impressing upon them the power of the roman emperor.

The iconic structure was about more than amusing the masses.

It was a huge source of civic pride.

The colosseum provided a venue for tens of thousands of people

To come together

And share the common experience of a live sporting event.

To see some of the most violent sporting events in history.

Narrator: Constructed from 240,000 cart loads of stone,

The colosseum stands 15 stories of high and covers six acres

With a playing surface of eight basketball courts

Or two-and-a-half hockey rinks.

[ indistinct conversations ]

Ochsendorf: When we enter the colosseum today,

We really see all of the elements of a great stadium

For watching spectator sports --

Thousands and thousands of seats,

All with a view of the action.

55,000 romans came here, free of charge,

The colosseum's crumbling remains

The gladiator competitions were paid for by the emperor.

If one emperor gave a show that had a certain amount

Of killing and bloodthirstiness,

Then the next emperor had to top that.

Narrator: And today's sun-baked tourists might never guess --

There was an impressive innovation

That hung over this once bloody battlefield.

Ochsendorf: The colosseum had a temporary retractable roof

That could be used to shade the spectators from the elements,

Sailing technology that allowed for the canvas

♪

Los angeles has its own colosseum

That holds 75,000 people.

The home of dallas's football team covers 73 acres,

More than ten times the size of the roman colosseum.

And the distinct arches and columns of the colosseum

Are echoed in stadiums in new york, boston,

And all the way back to rome where dan meis

Is designing a new, state-of-the-art

Stadium that rivals

The colosseum's enduring architecture

And its original jaw-dropping look.

As many people as the original colosseum.

Higgins: This building -- when you first saw it,

It would look absolutely magnificent.

It would almost certainly also be

The most beautifully decorated building you had ever seen.

♪

Narrator: When it was built, the stone facade

Extended around the entire colosseum.

Bronze shields glinted from the top tier.

And there was a stone statue framed by every archway.

But when the roman games ended in the sixth century a.D.,

Romans began pillaging the decorations,

Drawing in four million visitors a year.

$30 million was spent stabilizing

And refreshing it in the last decade alone.

Plus people seem to love the colosseum

And its ancient facade.

It's incredibly important to the city of rome today,

Even though it's a totally different use.

It's a -- it's a place to go see.

It's a ruin.

But one of the most important ruins on the planet,

So it has multiple lives.

Narrator: It's a massive tourist attraction,

Precious stone, and metal.

Trying to convert a beloved world heritage site

Into a modern sports arena

Would be like putting a fresh coat of paint on the mona lisa.

So it's settled --

We'll build a brand-new colosseum just outside of rome,

And we'll make ours even bigger.

But we aren't the first ones to take on this challenge.

There are plenty of stadiums bigger than the colosseum.

Rungrado stadium in north korea is the largest.

It can hold three times

Just so it could be brought back by the cart load

We want to show the world what the colosseum looked like

Before it fell under ruin.

So we're going to reproduce the original exterior,

Only bigger, big enough to hold 100,000 spectators,

Twice as many people as the original.

But we don't want our colosseum to crumble.

So we need to built it with materials

That are sure to last for centuries to come.

The obvious choice?

The same material as the romans -- travertine.

The romans built a 12-1/2 mile-long road to tivoli

Narrator: It's a new take on an old classic.

To the ancient construction site.

But travertine alone won't get the job done.

Ochsendorf: On the interior of the colosseum,

We find brick-and-concrete vaults

That supported the raked seating.

Narrator: Okay, so let's also add brick and concrete

To our materials list,

But we also want our new colosseum

To outlast the original.

So we may need some more advanced materials

That will withstand the test of time.

Narrator: As he's designing his stadio della rome,

♪

And in 1349, an earthquake brought down the southern wall.

♪

They say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder",

But everyone who beholds the roman colosseum agrees

That, even in ruins, it's a beauty.

And its look inspires dan meis.

The most important thing is we want

To do a building of its time

And, obviously, of the future as well,

But we wanted to make reference to it.

Especially this is its restored state.

Dan is giving a nod to the original colosseum

In the form of a floating stone wall

Around the stadium exterior.

It will even be made from the same stone

As the colosseum's exterior, travertine, a form of limestone

That has the luxurious look of marble.

So it is this idea of a very contemporary, modern,

Steel-and-glass stadium,

But wrapped in these traditional materials

That everyone is very familiar with in rome.

And, in the case of rome,

Narrator: The colosseum took center stage in rome next to the roman forum,

The city's original public square.

This is really where entertainment and sports

Began in becoming the kind of heart beat of a city.

Narrator: If we're going to build a stadium to rival

The one vespasian built 2,000 years ago,

We're also going to need some prime real estate.

But in the world of stadium construction,

The more recent trend

Has been to build on the outskirts of town

Where there's more parking, less traffic congestion,

And that was a good foundation as well.

No fear of your gigantic new stadium

Leaving a footprint on hallowed ground.

One of the great concerns is that, wherever you dig,

You might find some important ruin.

Narrator: An archaeologist's dream is a builder's nightmare.

The smallest relic could shut down construction

For up to five years.

That's the reason architect dan meis chose

To build his latest stadium here,

A half hour drive from rome's ancient downtown core.

His proposed stadio della roma would be the home

Higgins: At the time the colosseum was built,

Are just a reminder of its glory days.

We want to recreate this architectural legend,

But first, we need to find the perfect location.

♪

When vespasian took the reins of the roman empire in 69 a.D.,

The center of rome was the perfect place

For his gift to the people.

On site was an artificial lake,

Fed by the city's famous aqueducts.

The previous emperor, nero,

Used it to host his over-the-top private pool parties.

To the city's biggest soccer club.

Life in rome had been very difficult

For the ordinary population here

Because there had been the emperor nero.

The emperor nero had been very extravagant.

Narrator: Building rome's new stadium on top of nero's lake

May have been a political move

On the part of the new emperor vespasian,

But it had a practical advantage, too.

Higgins: It was an area that was already dug out.

It was also compacted sediment,

With generations of cubs fans that has kept it alive.

Was built in six weeks for just $250,000.

And then, the city came in a few weeks later

And said, "guess what?

You need to do some parts of it again

Because you skipped some parts of the city code."

That's the part that we've been dealing with.

Narrator: The fee for giving this icon a facelift?

$500 million, more than it would cost to simply replace it,

But fans are willing to pay

To hold on to their beloved ballpark.

There's a special connection that wrigley has

The ballpark, which was built over 100 years ago,

Chicagoans loved wrigley field

As much as the romans loved their colosseum.

Wrigley field is part of a neighborhood.

If you tried to build wrigley field somewhere else,

It would not be the same.

That's part of its charm.

That's part of what makes it special.

Narrator: Wrigley field proves that restoration can be

More expensive than new construction.

So it won't save us any money to renovate

The crumbling colosseum,

♪

We're building on a site that we think is pretty clean

Of any kind of ancient ruins that might slow us down,

But we never know until we start digging.

♪

Narrator: But building in rome is like building in a graveyard

With 14,000 years of history,

Both above and below the surface.

So instead of breaking new ground,

Maybe we could resurrect the original colosseum

And return it to its former glory.

[ swords clashing ]

Narrator: The roman colosseum --

But what would it take to revitalize a sports

Stadium that's past its prime?

We may find some answers right here in the windy city.

Chicago's colosseum is wrigley field,

Named after the chewing gum magnate.

It's the legendary home of the chicago cubs,

And this house is in need of a major renovation.

Baseball fans love the trademark marquee

And the retro-manual score board,

But this stadium was constructed in a hurry.