Paycom Center (formerly Chesapeake Arena)

[jn1780]

Sun setting in the east?

Actually, its north.

Thats the thermal nuclear bomb going off north of OKC. lol

[metro]

Actually, its north.

Thats the thermal nuclear bomb going off north of OKC. lol

Actually it's NNW

[catch22]

Actually it's NNW

I mean, really?

[Bellaboo]

Actually it's NNW

Actually it's NNE

[jn1780]

lol, before someone has a brain aneurysm about the thread being off topic. Lets just agree the sun isn't in the right place. The architect just used a cut and paste background.

[Praedura]

It's sunrise guys... people are arriving early for the special 6:00am Thunder game!

[CuatrodeMayo]

Actually it's NNW

Metro is back.

[Bellaboo]

It's sunrise guys... people are arriving early for the special 6:00am Thunder game!

Sorry, it's not a Thunder game, it's a prayer breakfast.....

[architect5311]

[OKCisOK4me]

Actually it's NNW

Actually, on December 21st, 2012, there is suppose to be a major solar flare and that will cause the magnetic poles to erode and therefore they will shift their natural positions, making the sun set in the north and the sun rise in the south...meanwhile, because of these polar shifts, we will be in a tropical climate near the new equator which makes perfect sense for why that sunset looks the way it does in that rendering ;-)

[Larry OKC]

It could be worse, the exterior could be rusting. And on purpose no less.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/ey...to-be-that-way

"the protective rust has a way of turning into regular old destructive rust."

Have heard someone jokingly refer to rust (and dust) as a protective covering, but it is a real thing? Learn something new...

Renderings are never 100% accurate.

Unless it was like the Candice Olson(sp) design show, where it was obvious they did the rendering after the room was redone...LOL

The client is the city and city staff in all likelihood approved the changes. ...

Technically true since it is a City owned building, but according to the terms of the Thunder lease, the Team has/had final say over the improvements...down to the light fixures.

[jedicurt]

Actually, on December 21st, 2012, there is suppose to be a major solar flare and that will cause the magnetic poles to erode and therefore they will shift their natural positions, making the sun set in the north and the sun rise in the south...meanwhile, because of these polar shifts, we will be in a tropical climate near the new equator which makes perfect sense for why that sunset looks the way it does in that rendering ;-)

so if we are going to become a tropical climate, and a habitat for tropical animals.... does this mean that we will be overrun with snakes like south florida? i guess the point i'm trying to get to is are we going to see large "snakes on the plains"?

[OKCisOK4me]

^^^niiiiice

[stjohn]

Skidmore Owens is one of the largest design firms in the world. Pickard Chilton is a different architectural and design firm. And Benham was the designer here. My point was that the choice of materials and the lines used are pretty common among many of the best designers in the world. It is no wonder that to make the building look more modern that this was the look. This look is used world wide, not just across the park. The problem in integrating it is that the initial building is of no particular style and no distinction. In some ways this was putting lipstick on a pig. But, given the budget and what they had to work with, it is an okay execution. That said, there are other physical changes that can be made to the main structure that would make it seem more like it was one project and not just an add on. Of course, that takes $$.

Let's be honest though, that's what it is, isn't it? The Ford Center was an ambitious project in 1999 for a city with a minor league hockey team and a division II arena football team. It just so happens that we hit the jackpot with the Hornets, and now the Thunder are one of the most marketable teams in the NBA. The renovations here are all about showing out. We don't need them to keep the basketball team around, and it's not worth building a brand new area. Tell the pig to pucker up, right?

[betts]

I don't think anyone is suggesting we build a new arena but I agree with Rover that there might be some cosmetic changes that would tie the addition to the old structure better. Again, I'm not an architect so I'm hesitant to make concrete suggestions. I did notice that there are metal awnings on the addition now, and the large awning on the old structure is painted cream. If it were aluminum or perhaps painted with the appropriate metal paint and there were some metallic trim on the building as Rover suggested, that might tie the two together better. Neither of those sounds that expensive. I'd love to hear some of the architects on this forum weigh in with ideas.

[BDP]

Let's be honest though, that's what it is, isn't it? The Ford Center was an ambitious project in 1999 for a city with a minor league hockey team and a division II arena football team. It just so happens that we hit the jackpot with the Hornets, and now the Thunder are one of the most marketable teams in the NBA. The renovations here are all about showing out. We don't need them to keep the basketball team around, and it's not worth building a brand new area. Tell the pig to pucker up, right?

I agree. The city did this right. We didn't drop the extra $100 million+ extra up front to give it the exterior "neato" factor that some arenas without tenants have inexplicably done. Since then we have put in about $150MM more than the original investment of $99MM and we have a damn nice arena. Sure, it's never going to win any awards for it's outward presentation, but it is very nice where it actually counts. Have you been to the club level or the courtside clubs? Or the locker rooms and facilities in the guts? No one could or should complain about any of these improvements.

Factor in this new addition and Oklahoma City probably has gotten more bang for its buck than any other publicly funded arena in the country. Why anyone would complain about that, I have no idea. Look, even with the Thunder we can't justify dropping $750 million for an AA arena or Staples Center. But, the reality is that we have a nicer arena than some markets more than twice our size and spent relatively little to do it. Could the exterior be more cohesive? Sure, but would it be worth building an entirely new arena just so the outside looks better? Definitely not. At this point with all the great improvements that have been made to date, even without the new atrium, the ONLY thing that would justify building a new arena is if the market gets to a point where it can support more than twice the number of suites currently available and 3-4k more in capacity even during non-championship years. The next one should not be built for aesthetic motivation alone. There is no longer anything about the arena in terms of amenities or revenue streams that should leave anyone in the market or team ownership wanting for more.

[Rover]

Nicely put.

[BoulderSooner]

Let's be honest though, that's what it is, isn't it? The Ford Center was an ambitious project in 1999 for a city with a minor league hockey team and a division II arena football team. It just so happens that we hit the jackpot with the Hornets, and now the Thunder are one of the most marketable teams in the NBA. The renovations here are all about showing out. We don't need them to keep the basketball team around, and it's not worth building a brand new area. Tell the pig to pucker up, right?

we had a level 1 arena football team back then ....


and we will have to build a new arena .. .in the 2030 timeframe

[jn1780]

Good for a solid 10 years at least with the new improvements. I see the pressure starting for a new arena after 10 years. The owners could issue an ultimatum anytime between that 10 to 20 year mark depending on what the market conditions are like.

[Just the facts]

We shouldn't plan arena locations 15 to 20 years out since we don't know what the city will look like at that time. Using 10 year old assumptions is how we ended up with an elevated proposal for the new boulevard. We need to budget for a replacement but the location needs to be based on many factors that don't even exist today.

[BoulderSooner]

We shouldn't plan arena locations 15 to 20 years out since we don't know what the city will look like at that time. Using 10 year old assumptions is how we ended up with an elevated proposal for the new boulevard. We need to budget for a replacement but the location needs to be based on many factors that don't even exist today.

the cox site is a good arena site right now .. 10 years from now 20 years from now and will be 50 years for now ...

2030 is not really that far away the new arena could be the final project of a maps 5 vote ... which would be 2024 or 2025 ... the new CC and hotel won't be open until 2019 or 2020 .. so it is really not that far off ...

[Teo9969]

Depending on the growth of OKC's economy and population, if getting an NFL team by 2040 is unreasonable, then I say move the arena to the site of the Cottonseed Mill. Any future NFL stadium can then be pushed out to Western/Reno where the farmer's market is at (and that way, if they screw up the Boulevard and keep the berms, there will be reason to fix that problem down the road...pun intended)

[Just the facts]

the cox site is a good arena site right now .. 10 years from now 20 years from now and will be 50 years for now ...

2030 is not really that far away the new arena could be the final project of a maps 5 vote ... which would be 2024 or 2025 ... the new CC and hotel won't be open until 2019 or 2020 .. so it is really not that far off ...

Not if it has an office tower, 2 residential towers, a hotel tower, and one linear mile of street level retail. Public facilities should foster private sector development, not take the best land away from private sector development. Just becasue they can build an arena there doesn't mean they should.

[LawtonButch]

I noticed today that the Time Warner cable arena in North Carolina has very similar lines to the new addition at the Peake.

[metro]

Not if it has an office tower, 2 residential towers, a hotel tower, and one linear mile of street level retail. Public facilities should foster private sector development, not take the best land away from private sector development. Just becasue they can build an arena there doesn't mean they should.

This