On the other hand, if it appears in June that the Georgia Dome will be needed for the start of football season, there would be time to reinstall turf, retrieve equipment and get the building back up and running.

The new scheduled opening date for Mercedes-Benz Stadium is Aug. 26, when the Falcons are scheduled to play a home preseason game against Arizona.

The Georgia Dome, which officially closed on March 5, was originally slated for demolition in July. Cannon this week called the decision to keep it standing for a while longer “an insurance policy,” adding: “We do not expect to use the Georgia Dome whatsoever.”

And just like that...it's over! Thank you #Atlanta for everything! — Georgia Dome (@GeorgiaDome) March 5, 2017

But three previously announced opening dates for Mercedes-Benz Stadium — March 1, June 1 and July 30 — have been scrapped, affecting Atlanta United matches. And if the latest target is missed by even 10 days, there would need to be an alternate place to play two Falcons preseason games (Aug. 26 and Aug. 31) and two Chick-fil-A Kickoff college football games (Alabama vs. Florida State on Sept. 2 and Georgia Tech vs. Tennessee on Sept. 4.)

The Chick-fil-A Kickoff games are particularly important to the Atlanta hospitality industry because of the out-of-towners they bring to the city.

While the GWCCA operated the Georgia Dome for the past 25 years, the Falcons will operate Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“In the remote chance that we needed to use the Dome again, the Falcons would operate it,” Kirksey said.

Meanwhile, the company hired to liquidate the contents of the Georgia Dome, including selling the seats to fans, has had its work interrupted. Orders are still being taken for the seats, but the expected shipment date to customers has been changed from April 15 to "late summer."

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