Fans of Seattle basketball—and arena building, for that matter—can do nothing other than sit and wait. There’s no visible movement on bringing a NBA team to the Emerald City, which would immediately jumpstart the proposed brand-new arena for downtown’s stadium district. But while Seattle-area fans can only dream about their arena, other NBA venues across the country will get to watch renovations and plans take actual shape.
As the NBA season winds down, the renovation plans start gearing up, as first reported in Sports Illustrated. The flashiest of them all, though—at least for now—comes from the opposite side of the country from Seattle, with a planned green roof for Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
Opened in 2012, original plans called for a green roof. But a ballooning budget retired the idea. Now proposed development around the Forest City Ratner Companies-owned building has owners wanting to beautify the white top with 130,000 square feet of sedum.
MaryAnne Gilmartin, FCRC president and CEO, says the new roof will make the area more attractive for people visiting and living and enhance the residential buildings surrounding the arena. B2, the first residential building, is currently under construction. Two other residential building, B3 and B4, are planned for the arena block.
The new roof will rise on steel supports above the current structure with an air gap of four feet at the edge of the roof to 10 feet at the highest point. Sedum trays will create a “flocking” pattern to match the weathered steel exterior. The building’s foundation was designed with a green roof in mind, so “minimal reinforcement is required.”
The nine-month project will require three cranes for installation.
While Barclays enjoys a new roof, folks in Boston and Minneapolis can expect changes inside their NBA venues.
TD Garden, home to both NBA and NHL, will undergo a $70 million upgrade to bring fans an oversized pro shop as part of an entryway update and other renovations include updates to a number of hospitality areas within the venue. The loge and balcony concourses will see complete overhauls too.
In Minneapolis, both design and contracting services are out for bid, with the team saying it hopes to hire an architect in May and a construction manager in June for a $97 renovation to the Target Center. Plans for that building include everything from new and updated club spaces, renovated locker rooms, updated loading docks, new arena lighting, updated concourses and even a fresh look to the exterior.
Proposed venues in San Francisco and Sacramento continue to take shape while Charlotte eyes a list of hopeful renovations for Time Warner Cable Arena.
Tim Newcomb is Engineering News-Record’s Pacific Northwest contributor. He also writes for Popular Mechanics, Sports Illustrated and more. You can follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb or visit his website here.