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A view from the street of the new Charlotte Bobcats Arena in downtown Charlotte. (Photo courtesy of Hunt Construction Group)
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Hunt Construction Group of Indianapolis and architect Ellerbe Becket of Kansas City, Mo., two of the nation's most experienced builders of sports facilities, teamed up with local firms and the city of Charlotte to build the NBA's newest sports venue in approximately 26 months.
From the scoreboards and sound system to the seats and concession stands, no detail was forgotten in the effort to create a state-of-the-art venue for basketball games, hockey, concerts, circus performances, truck rallies and other events.
The 810,000-sq.-ft., $265 million project opened on Oct. 21 with a soldout concert by the Rolling Stones. The facility can seat up to 20,000 people.
Doug Brown led the design team for Ellerbe Becket. He said the goal of the design was to create excitement even before people enter the building.
"As you drive toward the arena, you can see the lights and activity inside," Brown said. Outside terraces make it possible for people to enjoy not just a great view of the city, but also to interact with those on the streets below, he added.
The arena's entryway was designed to be striking. The main entrance is 60 ft. high, and people on the walkways above can watch the crowds enter, while those arriving can immediately be caught up in the emotional lift of the crowd. Brown said there are few arenas in the country as open as the Charlotte facility.
"We want everyone at an event to have the same shared experience," said Barry Silberman, the Bobcats' operations chief for the facility. "We want people on every level to relate to each other, so we deliberately created vantage points where people could hang out and see those going by both above and below them."
Putting together such a display of design savvy and construction expertise didn't come easy.
"It took an array of people to put this together," Brown said. "There were 20 specialty firms on the design team alone."
A minimum of six entities involved in the arena's construction met at least weekly onsite. They included officials from the city of Charlotte; the NBA Charlotte Bobcats; Indianapolis-based Hunt Construction Group, which was construction manager at risk; general contractor R.J. Leeper, a Charlotte firm; Ellerbe Becket; and the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, the public entity charged with managing the facility.
While the Bobcats had input into the building design and construction, the ultimate boss was the city, which owns the building. Scott Blanchard, Hunt's construction manager, said: "It's not unusual to be dealing with multiple entities, but there's no question who is the boss and who pays the bills. But it was a friendly process. Everyone wanted to be on time, on budget and to create a winner."
Still, the arena bears the Bobcats' name, and Silberman said the city "gave us great latitude to do what we wanted, and we envisioned how the building would look, work and function for a variety of events. The only caveat was that we had to keep within budget and on schedule.
"It was a collaborative process. We'd express our vision, the city would chime in and we all worked together to make sure it happened - and within budget."
William Haas, a civil engineer with the city and a project manager for the arena, said: "It seemed the most common question I asked was, 'Can we afford this©' If the answer was no, we backed up and tried again. If the answer was yes, we worked it out together."
Haas oversaw the day-to-day operations, comparable to an owner's rep. The city had five project managers assigned to the arena.
The scope of the project meant it was hard for any single individual to know everything. As a result, Haas said, "There was no end to the checks and balances and surveys. People kept looking and talking to ensure that things fit and got done like they should."
Hunt had three quality-control engineers onsite. They made sure that all problems that were logged got fixed in a timely manner.
The complex building includes a TV studio, an ice floor, office and retail space, commercial kitchens and full-service restaurants, as well as sophisticated wireless, sound and lighting systems.
The team discussed such details as where to place cameras for the best angle without blocking views of the court; where to place light fixtures so they would be accessible when a bulb needs changing; and even the touch-up of paint schemes to avoid having to repaint an entire wall.
"We wanted to be creative, but we also had to be practical," Haas said.
Contractor Experience The responsibility for getting the design actually built was in the hands of Hunt, which has built nearly 90 sports facilities. Hunt construction manager Blanchard had built three arenas before supervising the Charlotte project.
With that kind of experience, Hunt was prepared for the job. For example, the overhangs and vantage points on the concourses meant the concrete pours were complex. More rock than anticipated was found at the site, which extended the blasting period was from the anticipated two weeks to two months.
There was rush-hour traffic in an urban environment to contend with, as well as a limited laydown area.
Hunt knew to first build the components needed to make the construction process more efficient - such as the loading docks, freight elevators and mechanical and electric rooms. There were separate meetings for those building the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.
Specialty contractors were needed for such activities as installing the scoreboards, the seats and kitchen equipment. An acoustical engineer ensured the sound was satisfactory from every seat and that echoes were eliminated.
Every week, the 50 subcontractors used on the project developed a schedule for what they were doing and where. If the schedules created logistical issues, meetings were held to coordinate the work and resolve the conflicts.
"They all needed each other to get the job done," Blanchard said.
Ron Leeper, owner of R.J. Leeper, the local general contractor, added: "Regardless of the scope of the project, if you understand construction, it's just a matter of scheduling and managing people on the job."
At peak times, there were several hundred workers onsite.
All contracts were sent out to bid, and large contracts were segmented into smaller ones to enable bids from small businesses.
Linda Lockman-Brooks Marketing Services of Charlotte was hired to oversee that effort. Lockman-Brooks said the goal was for small businesses to be awarded 15 percent of the contracts, and the city came close with an estimated $18 million to $20 million going to firms it had certified as small business enterprises.
Silberman said every effort was made to put the best foot forward to the public when the arena opened in October, even though that meant the Bobcats' administrative offices were not completed.
"We hope the people of the Charlotte region love the building as much as we loved putting it together," he added.
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