Tulsa's New Arena (Prue, May: floors, installing, area)

[New In Prue]

here's the latest...

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by New In Prue

here's the latest...

Wow! Keep it up Prue! I love these updates..

[sgrizzle]

Original estimates were for the Arena to be "dried in" by about now (probably to beat winter) and it's pretty close to that now. I'll be a lot happier with the stainless steel when they pull the blue plastic off.

[6 FOOT 3]

I have a question about the arena......

What will be the arena's main entertainment venue?? In other words besides for concerts would there be semi pro basketball or Hockey? Will it be large enough for Arena football? Also with OKC getting and NBA team is Tulsa and this new arena large enough so in the future say 10/15 years from now will they have a second NBA team in Oklahoma. Will Oklahoma State play alot of its games there.

Anyway thats a great looking facility as they have been trying for years to get one built here in Albuquerque with no avail.

[Synopsis]

Hi 6/3. It will primarily be for sports, but concerts will be there as well (I think Celine Dione is opening up there). Tulsa has an NBA D team, an Arena football team (Tulsa Talons), and the Tulsa Oilers. The venue is big enough for all of those and they will be playing there. I hope the new NBA team in OkC plays a few games there a year as well. As far as Tulsa getting an NBA team; they are probably more likely to get an NHL team before that. I don't know if Oklahoma will ever get two NBA franchises. The facility is a great one; an icon for sure.

[sgrizzle]

The MBA D League team is currently playing in another venue, it is unsure whether they will move to this building. The Tulsa Oilers (CHL) hockey team and Tulsa Talons (AFL2) team will definitely be there. The Talons (in their current home) have had one of the best attendance records for AFL2 while having to get a special exemption for playing on an undersized field. Once they move they would meet AFL requirements.

Likely exhibition games will be played here as well as NCAA basketball tournaments. There is a strong chance Conference USA will make it's home here for it's annual tournaments.

Celine Dion is playing, but it is not the opening event.

[Synopsis]

Thanks sgrizzle for the input. Much appreciated.

[New In Prue]

Work continues on the glass iconic wall...looks like about 35 panes remain to be installed, on the west end, with a few
others here and there. I imagine they'll do the east end last, since it doesn't affect the climate-controlled interior. The
skin work appears to be going painfully slow...

[Synopsis]

That's beautiful New. Thanks for the update. Is the skin already on but they simply have to remove the protective outer layer? If that's not the case, I suspect once they start it will move really fast. Do they have any contingency plans for the upcoming spring weather? It could get quite nasty in April or May if they don't have the skin on, but I'm just guessing.

Thanks again!

[New In Prue]

The stainless steel "skin" shows up in the picture as the light-color (almost white). Some of it is still covered with a blue plastic protective cover. I'm not really crazy about the "bent-up" look of some of the tiles around the front of the building under the canopy, but I'm sure someone on the architect's staff will have a sit-down with the contractor to fix that.