[getbak]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I haven't read the thread or looked for details but are they going to excavate under the original arena and build seating and the floor subgrade? It looks like that from the renderings.

Yes, they'll be digging down 15 feet lower: http://sports.mynorthwest.com/266677...ty-and-for-us/

Leiweke said keeping the KeyArena roof intact is a major expense and that OVG wasn’t sure it could be done until about six weeks ago. What the engineers would do, he explained, is dig 15 feet down and add upwards of 300,000 square feet to the building, all below grade. They would create a “giant atrium” that he described as a “people-moving system” that would take patrons from the upper level, where they enter the building, down to the various levels of the building.

“By sinking it 15 feet, we can go out down below grade and down below the ground and not impact the historic landmark that the roof is currently,” he said.

They would add concessions, restrooms, locker rooms, seven docks and a parking garage that connects directly to the arena. The design also includes two scoreboards, something Leiweke said has never been done. He said everything would be centered around 9,000 seats in the lower bowl. Leiweke added that he promised Seattle rock band Pearl Jam that the arena’s acoustics would be as good as those in Madison Square Garden in New York City and The Forum just outside of Los Angeles.