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Charlotte Bobcats Arena

utcltjay

By utcltjay
in Charlotte Coffee House

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Neo City

Neo

Posted
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holy cow... if that is true, that is outrageous.

it may also be an urban-legend type thing that floats around employees of an organization about the boss's motives. He might have just made the decision to add the seats for profit motives... and then employees in the organization added the shinn-esque motives of "add them or i'll leave" to johnson as the rumors went around.

the bobcats will pay a very very stiff fine if they leave the city within the next 25 years, so i'd be very surprised if there is already talk of leaving the city, especially with the growth potential.

I agree dubone. I would definately be suprised if they were seriously threatening to leave already however I doubt the rumor regarding the size of the arena is false. It is indeed a small arena IMO and has been talked about a few times here regarding the size of this new arena compared to others nearby for concerts, etc.

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gokapono Crossroads

gokapono

Posted
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I wonder if McCroy will invite Lynn Wheeler to come and cut the ribbon at the Grand Dedication today? She did, after all, take the political fall for approving the place.

Wheeler lost her primary in '03 mainly because she didn't spend a dime campaigning.

If you believe she lost due to her support of the arena, I'd ask you why McCrory beat Mike Castano (Mr. Anti-Arena) in a landslide in the very same primary.

The anti-arena crowd wants us to believe that the 57,000 people who voted "No" to the 2001 proposal are a monolithic group that still opposes the arena today. However, since the referendum in 2001, no anti-arena candidate has won a citywide election. Not a single one.

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poplife88 Whistle-Stop

poplife88

Posted
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You know, that rumor about Bob johnson wanting to leave Charlotte sounds like a rumor started by one of those arena boycotters.

Great point. I'd hardly think that he would do this after plopping down ~300 million dollars for the franchise fee to enter the NBA. Although I could see where he would be getting tired of opening all of his interviews with queries about this antiarena crowd and how there's this public backlash about it. Cmon let's get over this already. We have a sparkling new jewel in downtown Charlotte, a dynamic owner who I think is going to spend some money to get good players, and a good young team that we can be truly excited about. Let's stop giving voice to this very small but vocal minority that seems to keep rearing its ugly head.

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dubone Megalopolis

dubone

Posted
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a bunch of us snuck in tonight and toured the arena.

holy mother of pearl... that thing is sweet. it is so incredible.

there are so many things to see, and some of the art is really cool.

in fact, you can take a schist with a skyline view in many of the bathrooms.

spectacular.

i must say, though, that with all the plasma tvs and touchscreen lighting controls that some things are luxury items that should have been paid for by the bobcats and not the city...but now that that water has washed under the bridge, i say what a gem! and the jumbotrons are blinding!

i'm not sure what lighting caused it...but when we first walked by, the whole transit center was lit up in green and then blue and then red and then yellow, etc. it might have been the jumbotron on trade, but later we couldn't see that same effect, even though the jumbotron was on, so it might have been the lighting for those spindle pillars being tested.

this arena is incredible inside. i recommend any and everyone to tour it inside during the open house thisweekend.

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Norm2 Burg

Norm2

Posted
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I tried parking at 7th stree station tonioght.....they wanted me to pay 5 bucks just to enter the parking garage.....I didnt pay it and I left. I am assuming that they were charging because of the arena opening. I am also asusming it will just be for this weekend. If not i will be highly mad.

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Norm2 Burg

Norm2

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I dont know why they were charging either. i asked the guy wanted to charge me me when this started, and he said it just started today, and he was wearing one of those "event staff" shirts, so something was going on somewhere. I wasnt the only person turning around, thats for sure.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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I tried parking at 7th stree station tonioght.....they wanted me to pay 5 bucks just to enter the parking garage.....I didnt pay it and I left. I am assuming that they were charging because of the arena opening. I am also asusming it will just be for this weekend. If not i will be highly mad.

Actually the city announced last week that free parking in the off hours and weekends has been eliminated. They specifically cite the opening as the areana for the reason. I guess you were the first of us here to verify it. If you go into reids and buy something, they will stamp your ticket for free exiting.

I find this to be a bad policy, becuase people won't casually go where they have to pay to park. For some reason this is universally hated by everyone.

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Miesian Corners City

Miesian Corners

Posted
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Got to see the inside of the arena last night. While most of you know I'm not a big fan of the exterior, the interior is a different story. WOW! The artwork is incredible (and VERY Charlotte). I was amazed at how the art actually gives a sense of Charlotte's history. There are four painitings on the upper level concourse that tell the city's 20th and 21st Century story. Logos of NCNB, First Union, pictures of Kays Gary and Betty Feezor (two media icons of the Charlotte News and WBTV...Kays Gary was a beloved columnist, Betty Feezor was Charlotte's Martha Stewart), a Piedmont Airlines poster for North Carolina with "Piedmont. The Up-and-Coming Airline" written across the bottom. Paul Russo's giant piggy banks in multiple colors over the concession area off the main entrance are great. And to top it all off, the seating is padded! The only disappointment is that there was not enough money to put terazzo floors on the concourses (bare concrete). The terazzo in the main lobby is very cool, though. I am also dubious of the scoreboard and its 3-D Charlotte skyline. While it sounds cool in theory and looks ok, can they add skyscrapers to it? In two years, Epicenter will add a 53-story building that would be in the foreground of the view chosen for the model.

I encourage all to go check it out this weekend. I have no idea how they're acutually going to be able to finish all they need to do before tonight's Stones concert, but it will still impress those who go. I can't wait to see the giant lips and tongue logo floating on the jumbotron tonight!

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SmellyCat Burg

SmellyCat

Posted
Posted

I also snuck into the arena last night as I just "happened" to be in the area. For all of those doubting Thomases out there...the place really is all that and a bag of chips. My expectations were low to average, but I was blown away. I was amazed at the attention to detail inside...beyond the flat panel screens and cupholders. Also, the configs are pretty cozy, so there's not a bad seat in the house. All in all, very exciting!

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skylinedrive Unincorporated Area

skylinedrive

Posted
Posted

I was speaking with someone who has worked on the construction for the new arena since day one and he was giving me some information that I didn't know anything about until now. Apparently Bob Johnson at one point has threatened to leave Charlotte already because he stated he couldn't make enough money because of the arena being so small. Apparently they had altered the design at some point to add 4,000 temporary seats, but they ended up being bolted down for permanent seating.

Has anyone else heard of this? My source is fairly reliable so I don't dispute the claim.

I attended all of the design meetings on the Arena. From the begining it was designed to have a capacity of 18,500 for NBA Basketball and that is what we got. It was never designed to be a 14,500 seat arena. Bolting temporary seats to the floor, especially when you have to reconfigure the arena for the different events (many times overnight) doesn't make sense. This link here shows the multitude of configurations this arena will have for NBA Basketball, ECHL Hockey, College Basketball, Concerts, Horse Shows, etc.

http://www.nba.com/bobcats/arena_seating.html

Bob Johnson has signed a 20 year lease on the Arena. If he breaks that lease before the 20 years are up then he would assume the unpaid debt on the Arena. That means that if he left today he would have to pay the full cost of the Arena and Charlotte would retain ownership.

Your friend's rumor does not make any sense when you look at the facts.

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skylinedrive Unincorporated Area

skylinedrive

Posted
Posted

a bunch of us snuck in tonight and toured the arena.

holy mother of pearl... that thing is sweet. it is so incredible.

there are so many things to see, and some of the art is really cool.

in fact, you can take a schist with a skyline view in many of the bathrooms.

spectacular.

i must say, though, that with all the plasma tvs and touchscreen lighting controls that some things are luxury items that should have been paid for by the bobcats and not the city...but now that that water has washed under the bridge, i say what a gem! and the jumbotrons are blinding!

i'm not sure what lighting caused it...but when we first walked by, the whole transit center was lit up in green and then blue and then red and then yellow, etc. it might have been the jumbotron on trade, but later we couldn't see that same effect, even though the jumbotron was on, so it might have been the lighting for those spindle pillars being tested.

this arena is incredible inside. i recommend any and everyone to tour it inside during the open house thisweekend.

And you didn't invite me! :)

I hope to check the Arena out sometime this weekend during the open house.

Just FYI, the Bobcats put in about $30M of their own money into upgrading the arena. Those upgrades include the skybox amenities, practice courts, Bobcats offices, locker room, etc. No city money went towards those things.

I think that the jumbotron on the 5th St side looks great at night. There were actually people commenting on it as they walked by the Arena. The Trade St side they really need to light up more. That jumbotron is so darn bright that it almost blinds you as you approach the arena. If they threw some nice blue light on the aluminum siding then that would take some of the blinding effect of the jumbotron away.

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dubone Megalopolis

dubone

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ok... it relieves me significantly to know that the bobcats paid for the skybox amenities. they have lcd-touch screen lightswitches and fancy stainless steel appliances and so forth... so i was a little uncomfy to think that the public sector (albeit the out-of-towners) was paying for that.

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bork Whistle-Stop

bork

Posted
Posted

I think we're looking at the Ameriquest Arena right now.

If someone can host a picture, I'll email from my camera phone the GIGANTIC Ameriquest Bell that's up right over the entrance by the screen - pretty ugly, too!

EDIT - you can see it on the 210trade webcam. It looks much larger from a lower height.

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bork Whistle-Stop

bork

Posted
Posted

on the arena construction cam it says ameriquest on the bell.

I wonder if there is any significance to it other than just advertising for the concert.

False Alarm, I think this is a blow-up bell for the concert. Apparently the Rolling Stones tour is sponsored by AmeriQuest. Yup, they're hard-core rockers and you're in for the ride of your life .. Would you like to open a home equity line, too?

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