Tulsa's New Arena (May: landscaping, live in, parking)

[BigOkie]

Originally Posted by New In Prue

Thanks for those great pictures! But I still can't get a handle on what that concourse is going to wind up looking like...are there stairs and an inside ramp to both floors? Or is the ramp outside? I got seasick just looking at the picture of that glass wall disappearing into the ground, or the ground ramping up to the other floor...Will the underside of the "bleachers" be visible from the first floor? This truly will be the most unusual interior of any building I've ever seen.

The ramp is inside, but with it's location inside the icon wall, it will feel like outside.

[Howest2008]

Originally Posted by happytown

Hopefully they will provide an environment that would go well with the arena. I have heard from my buddy that the jail is new...But I think once things get rolling something will happen and change the location of the jail. Maybe make the facility into something else and build a jail in another part of town. I seriously dont think they will keep that jail there for long.

All major American cities have city/county jails in the downtown area.

[BigOkie]

Originally Posted by Howest2008

All major American cities have city/county jails in the downtown area.

Agreed, and since the jail is fairly new, I'm guessing it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

I get to see the building at least once a week now, and I am waiting for the time when the Oilers take their season ticket holders over there to map out where they want to sit. That may not be until summer, but I can hope it would be earlier.

[sgrizzle]

The tour was provided by the Vision Builders and TulsaNow. There was about 60-someodd people. Video is available on the homepage of TulsaNow.org which will walk you through the whole thing.

The ramp goes along the glass wall and takes you from the main concourse to the upper concourse. The stairs next to it take you to both floors as well as the suite level between.

There will probably be a second tour in July. sign up for the mailing list on tulsanow.org if you want to be notified.

[New In Prue]

Kenny Chesney's concert with Leann Rimes is Sept. 10, and they say it's not the "grand opener". They're pretty optimistic about the Arena being open by September, aren't they? I drive by there daily (and occasionally park nearby and gawk for a few minutes) and it looks like they've got a lot of work to get done, even though it's more or less "dried in". Just like building a house--the last 10% takes the longest. The devil is in the details. But I've got my fingers crossed.

[New In Prue]

One of the TV stations did a piece on the Arena the other night and mentioned that, with Kenny Chesney, LeAnn Rimes, and Celine Dion, they had covered the bases with C&W and pop performances, with something to appeal to different segments of the population. Well, if that's their goal, there's no question in my mind that the one segment remaining is the Rock-n-Roll crowd. Which means that--yes, you guessed it--AEROSMITH will be opening the Arena!! You heard it here first. LOL

[sgrizzle]

The arena is going to spin up to about 1,000 workers a day in a couple of weeks and then wrap up in June. June through September will just be finish work.

[Synopsis]

Cool. I want to be there for the grand opening!

[New In Prue]

..any new pictures of the Arena? Sgrizzle, you better get busy...

[sgrizzle]

Originally Posted by New In Prue

..any new pictures of the Arena? Sgrizzle, you better get busy...

Not any in the last few weeks, still looks like this but the tiles go higher up:


After it fills out a bit more, I'll post some more. They did announce we're gonna have a NBA preseason game at the arena, so I'm considering going to that. Set to be formally announced on Monday, one downtown high-rise (Atlas Life Building) is going to be converted into a "boutique hotel" operated under the Marriot name. It's not right next to the arena, but it's be a great place to stay.