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Todd Voth

Active 2009-

Firm Notes

The ambiguously-named architectural firm, Populous, developed from the Saint Louis-based architectural giant, Hellmuth Obata and Kassabaum (HOK). In 1983, HOK created an important division that focused on sport and entertainment buildings, that rapidly became a leader in the field. The expansion of cable television and growth of sports programming on networks during the 1970s flooded professional sports with revenue during the following decade. As a result, sports teams became quite competitive with one another as to which organization could build the largest, most lavish and impressive stadia and arenas. The desire by cities, eager to stay competitive with regional and national rivals, to divert money into sports facilities has slowed by 2018 but not disappeared, with many city governments still granting generous tax abatements to pro sports teams seeking to build sleek and prestigious new homes. HOK Sport Venue Event became a leading designer of these buildings during its period of operation, 1983-2008.

In 01/2009, a management buy-out occurred removing the renamed firm, Populous, from HOK control.

PCAD id: 5847