Venue News: Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena Reaches New Milestone; Clippers Reportedly Exploring Sites for New Arena

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A crane lowers the final steel beam for the roof of Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit.

Dozens of iron workers who labored on the new Little Caesars Arena gathered earlier this month for a celebration of a new milestone for the building: the last piece of structural steel placed on the roof of the new home for the Detroit Red Wings. More than 7,500 pieces of steel have been placed on the 819,00-square-foot structure since October by Detroit-based Midwest Steel and Iron Workers Local 25, writes Crain’s Detroit Business, with more than 540 construction workers helping to build the $627.5 million, 20,000-seat arena. Some of the next steps to finishing off the arena include building the elevators and escalators, parking structure, pedestrian bridge linking parking to the arena, and starting to place masonry and drywall. The arena is projected to open in September 2017…

…Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has begun to explore potential sites for a new Clippers arena, multiple NBA sources said. The Clippers would neither confirm nor deny they are actively searching for a location, but one NBA source said that an area that piques the franchise’s interest is Los Angeles’ west side. The Clippers have been co-tenants of Staples Center, owned and operated by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), with the Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings since the facility opened in downtown Los Angeles prior to the 1999-2000 NBA season…

…Walt Disney World Resort plans to build a new sports venue at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and has unveiled a first look at the design of the new state-of-the-art venue, writes the Disney Park Blog. The new indoor sports venue, which will be adjacent to the Jostens Center, will feature a flexible design that can morph from one large competition space capable of seating more than 8,000 fans to as many as four separate competition areas. It will be so flexible that it can be configured to host a variety of other sports, such as basketball and volleyball, as well as concerts…

…With less than a month to go before the Miami Hurricanes kick off their season against Florida A&M in the Miami Dolphins’ renovated stadium, and just more than 30 days before the NFL season starts, the Miami New Times lays out what you need to know about the project…

…Even for those who aren’t sports fanatics, today’s stadiums, ballparks, and arenas are so amenity-rich and well-designed that they have the potential to turn just about anyone into a fan of the local team. Construction Dive spotlights the top trends in sports-stadium design…

…Twenty years after the Olympics were held in Atlanta, some remnants of that improbable summer remain a highly visible part of the city’s landscape, while others quickly faded away. The Associated Press takes a look at Atlanta’s Olympic facilities two decades later.

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