Stronso

Public invited to take peek during Nov. 30 open house


Pat Flannery
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 13, 2003 12:00 AM




GLENDALE - Work on the city's new arena has gone into overdrive, with only 32 working days before it opens to host professional lacrosse and Phoenix Coyotes hockey games.






If you go






Who: Phoenix Coyotes and Glendale.


What: Sneak peek at the city's new $220 million hockey arena. Free public tour of the facility will include music, activities and Stanley Cup on display.


When: Noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 30.


Where: 6520 N. 91st Ave., Glendale.


How to get there: Loop 101 to Glendale Avenue, east on Glendale to 91st Avenue, south on 91st to arena entrance just north of construction trailers. Follow signage to east parking lot.



People can see the new digs during an open house later this month.

Contractors and subcontractors did $500,000 of work a day the past two months, with a peak construction workforce of 850 on site two weeks ago, said Ken Schacherbauer, project executive for Perini Building Company.

Earlier this week, the workforce was down to 640 and "we'll slowly taper off now" as interior finishing work on the 17,799-seat arena is wrapped up, Schacherbauer said.

Dec. 23 is the target date for completion. Three days later, Arizona's new National Lacrosse League team will host the Vancouver Ravens in the league's opener.

A splashier grand opening will follow on Dec. 27, when the Coyotes host the Nashville Predators in the first National Hockey League game at the arena.

The Coyotes will gain 1,589 total seats when they move from America West Arena, but in effect they'll gain nearly 6,100 seats with unobstructed views of the ice. Roughly 4,500 seats have obstructed views during hockey games at AWA, said team spokesman Rich Nairn.

On Sunday, Nov. 30, the new arena's doors will swing open for free from noon to 4 p.m. for what is being billed as a public "sneak peek." The Stanley Cup, professional hockey's most-coveted prize, will be on display. Visitors can take part in interactive games, face painting and music. The team will sell merchandise and season-ticket packages.

Schacherbauer said the building's utilities have been hooked up, the 33,000-pound scoreboard hung at center ice, seats are in place, luxury suites fully carpeted and main-concourse concessions finished. Upper-concourse concessions should be done in three weeks. Finishing touches on the swanky tower suites should begin by month's end. The first sheet of one-eighth-inch ice should be on the floor by then to test the ice-making system. Parking lots are paved. Landscaping is 90 percent finished.

"It's finally starting to look like an arena," Schacherbauer said.

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