Renovated Georgia Dome could feature retractable roof, would bathe modern gladiators in glorious sunlight

• Populous

Georgia World Congress Center officials have a dilemma on their hands: How do they both host concerts and indoor events — which prefer to be protected from the elements — and satisfy the Atlanta Falcons, the cash cow football team that wants to stay downtown but play outdoors? Easy! You slap a retractable roof on the 18-year-old Georgia Dome, which by NFL standards is the same age as the Colosseum, and you watch the ameros roll in.

Populous, an international architecture firm that's designed sporting facilities around the world, today released its renderings of how the dome could be renovated to feature a retractable roof.

The concept, which could include an on-site training facility, would add club seating and parking. No telling how much the upgrade would cost. (If you recall, Gov. Sonny Perdue in June signed a bill that would extend a motel-hotel sales tax that could help pay for a new stadium.) According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, a retractable roof can cost $200 million. According to the AJC, Populous said GWCC officials, who operate the dome, could consider selling the naming rights. ("Walter's Dome," anyone?)

More renderings after the jump. Plus, one local architecture and design firm's concept of how a brand-new open-air stadium — located where the Atlanta Civic Center stands today — could look.