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Architects have finished the design for the Sprint Center downtown arena. The pillow/contraceptive sponge design has been updated to something a little less poofy that Mayor Barnes calls a “crystal bowl.” The final design will feature 18,500 seats.
Update: Arena architects and Mayor Barnes will discuss the arena today on Up To Date, 11:00 a.m. on KCUR-FM 89.3.
Business Journal: Arena team unveils final design.
looks like allianz arena to me. will the glass change colors?
http://allianzarena.de/en/down/bild/index.php
Looks good to me…now we just have to find some tenants!
So what’s it going to be called? The Sprint Salad Bowl!
Fraud! I feel like I was buying a Chevy and they’re
going to give me Ugo.
I am a proponent of the downtown arena. I voted
for it and lobbied others to do the same. But now I
feel the fool in what they announced last week.
I know we are becoming a more health conscience
society, but do we really want to have one of our
major landmarks being known at the “Sprint Salad
Bowl”? That’s exactly what Denver and others will be
saying about us and justifiably so.
As voters, we were promised a sleek state of the art
arena. They provided us drawings of a building that
looked pretty good. But what we.re getting… it just
reminds me of the old joke about putting a salad
bowl over your head to give yourself a cheap
haircut.
I ask, as citizens, is there any way to stop this
ridiculous lack of imagination and embarrassment
of a design.
I was considering buying a condo in the Wallstreet
Towers that would face the arena. That’s how much
I am in favor of it. But if this is what they’re going
to build I’m going to look somewhere else because I
don’t want anywhere near this cubic zarconia.
Gene Thomas
The early renderings were shown after the arena was approved and it was made clear that they were just early concept renderings of what they wanted to do and not anything close to the final project.
I think it looks great, especially when compared to other modern arenas. The only thing that could use some work is the hall of fame building.
Gene, Andrew is right. Those flying saucer designs were NOT what we voted on. Those were only used after the election when the architects were bidding on the contract, and were only meant to be a portfolio of their work.
It’s amazing how many people latched onto those very preliminary drawings and took them to heart.
I’m thinking it looks like a glass tire on its side. Maybe if we put a spinner on it, the Kansas City would embrace the design.
Let’s keep all of this in perspective…it’s a new arena downtown, and everyone knows (or should know) that we need something to help spark redevelopment and activity there. I say let’s get behind this and move forward. If it is a unique design (like it or not), people will notice and it will bring some attention.
It’s also amazing how many people latched on to those early renderings and then transported them back in time, believing that they were shown before the election.
All we saw before the election was a gray box.
The downtown arena is simply the single most exciting development in Kansas City. The design is a great one…Kudos to the design team in coming up with something very special on a tighter budget. Now let’s bring baseball downtown! The vitality that the KC Live District, HR Block, Sprint Arena, and dare I say the possibility of a downtown baseball stadium, bring is invaluable. These downtown investments can and will elevate Kansas City.