New Oklahoma City Arena--Beyond Paycom Center.

[Laramie]

  

                   

Oklahoma City's new downtown arena's site selection confirmed.

The current Prairie Surf Media Studios, formerly the Cox Convention Center originally opened in 1972 on a 4-square block site near the 50 story Devon Energy Center has been given council's approval to build the new downtown arena.

Oklahoma City has issued an RFP for an architectural consultant for the city's new $950 million arena, which will be home to the NBA's Thunder and replace Paycom Center. The city and the NBA team's development agreement was approved by the city council during a late May meeting, allowing the project to advance.

The arena will be built on the site of the former Cox Convention Center (which needs to be demolished) and completed no later than the summer of 2029, though the city's goal is to open the venue by the summer of 2028.

Oklahoma City leaders will select from a field of seven architecture firms to design the new home of the Oklahoma City Thunder:

The city's MAPS office released the names of the firms that submitted bids but has not yet released the actual bids each firm provided.

AECOM, Gensler, HKS, Overland Partners, Perkins and Will, Populous and Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates all tossed their names in for consideration.

The RFP details the city's proposed schedule for proceeding, with an initial deadline of July 17, an August 5 notification of short-listed firms, and interviews with finalists by September 5. The city also plans to recruit a construction manager later this year.

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[Laramie]

Architects start work on Oklahoma City's new $1B downtown arena.

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — It was the first of many meetings – which continued throughout Wednesday with other stakeholders – to discuss what the arena should be, how people will move through it and how it should make them feel, David Manica, design architect, said.

The City Council approved a $61.6 million contract with the architectural team on Tuesday for the design and development of the arena. The team:
Kansas City-based Manica Architecture, the design architect
Atlanta-based Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates Inc., or TVS, the architect of record.

"Both TVS and Manica Architecture have designed iconic arena and stadium projects worldwide," said David Todd, the city's project director. "They have a proven track record of creating functional, memorable buildings that communities are proud of."

Todd said the two firms routinely work in a team model and currently are working together on the Tennessee Titans' new Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Their most recent NBA collaboration was the Chase Center in San Francisco, home of the Golden State Warriors.


Manica said he sought the Oklahoma City project because he only wants to design buildings people love to go to and that make a difference to the city where they are.

"In many ways, this is my dream project," he said. "It's going to be a catalyst to spur additional growth and development in downtown."

He first came to Oklahoma City on behalf of the NBA nearly 20 years ago to evaluate the existing arena for its potential to bring an NBA team to town.

Manica Architecture will be engaged throughout the first half of the process until "the whole project is figured out," and TVS will be responsible for all the technical aspects including the construction documents, Manica said.

He expects to have some renderings completed next summer.

The arena will be built on the city-owned property where Prairie Surf Studios (formerly the Cox Convention Center), is located. The existing building is expected to be demolished in 2025 and construction to start in 2026, with completion scheduled for 2028.


The facility is to be a first-class, state-of-the-art NBA arena and entertainment venue of at least 750,000 square feet at a total budget of about $1 billion.

"The budget is just what it needs to be to build an arena that's first-class but not extravagant," Manica said. "We understand its public money."


"Each of David Manica's projects has distinctly transformed the geography and skyline of its location, while significantly enhancing the potential for an exceptional guest experience," Bennett said.

"I'm personally very much looking forward to the creative process and learning how our new arena will be visioned and designed, as well as seeing a concept brought forth that will be the pride of every citizen."

The new arena will be funded by a 72-month, one-cent sales tax that will start when the MAPS 4 tax ends, with an additional $70 million in MAPS 4 funding and $50 million from the Thunder ownership group.

Construction workforce
During Tuesday's discussion, Ward 2 Councilman James Cooper asked about efforts to connect local people with construction jobs and apprenticeships on the project.

City Manager Craig Freeman said the scope of the project ensures there will be significant opportunities for both local trades workers and apprentices. "The industry really wants to encourage apprenticeships so they can grow their trades," he said. "That's important to them as well."

Ward 5 Councilman Matt Hinkle said his concern is the workforce shortage in the local construction industry considering all the public and private developments going on.

"I think it's going to only grow," Freeman said. "The multiuse stadium is going to be going about the same time, so there's going to be a significant demand on the local workforce. I have no doubt, with the number of projects that we have, we're going to have to have workers from outside of our community coming in, but we're going to do everything we can to maximize the local workforce."

Todd said the arena project will require more than 30 local subconsultants in areas ranging from food service and mechanical, electrical and plumbing to energy modeling and specialty lighting.

The Thunder will continue to play home games at Paycom Center until the new arena opens and have committed to play there for 25 years.