New Milwaukee Bucks arena taking shape quickly

James B. Nelson | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

From the upper concourse of the new Milwaukee Bucks arena the past and the future stand in stark contrast.

Looking to the south, weeds are growing on a small roof section of the Buck's present home, the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Opened in 1988, the BC is showing its age as it enters its final NBA season.

Turn around and look into the new, more intimate facility that will be the Bucks' new home. The seating bowl is largely in place and the electrical, heating and air conditioning equipment are nearly ready to rock.

More than half of the trusses are set, and workers have installed large sections of the actual roofing in the east and west ends. Another enormous roof truss section was ready to be lifted into place as early as Wednesday.

With construction of the arena proceeding at a breakneck pace, many elements of the finished building are popping up throughout the site.

"We're actually slightly ahead of schedule," said Mike Sorge, the project principal for Mortenson Construction, the construction manager for the arena project.

Work is about 45 percent complete, and employment on the site has increased to about 600 from about 200 in spring, Sorge said. The $524 million facility, being built with $250 million in public funds, is scheduled to open in time for the 2018 NBA season.

The second of 10 escalators was to be set into place Tuesday afternoon and four of the 10 elevators are in the works.

It was clear from a tour of the facility with top executives from Mortenson and the Bucks, that there are details that need ironing out. Such as grout.

"We worry about grout lines, we worry about every detail," said Bucks President Peter Feigin. "It's important for us to be present on the site."

Feigin conducts early morning walkthroughs twice a week and keeps a set of binoculars in his Schlitz Park office windowsill, with a view of the project a few blocks away.

During the tour, Feigin took a minute for a quick conversation about grout with Mortenson leaders and Marc Farha, executive vice president of ICON Venue Group, who monitors the project for the team.

"We gotta figure that out," Feigin said, running his hand over a section of tile wainscoting with grout lines not to his liking.

He stepped to another section across the concourse and said "this looks much better to me. This is preferred." For an outsider, it was virtually impossible to tell the difference between the two sections of tile.

"I think we're close," Sorge responded.

Asked about the exchange, Feigin said he wasn't nit-picking, but thinking long-term about how the arena will function - and wear - in the years to come. The team is responsible for the upkeep of the facility, and the waist high tile will protect the walls from wear and tear from fans and equipment passing down the halls.

"We have to be thinking about day-to-day, how we're going to operate this arena," Feigin said.

Such details, small and large, popped up time and again during the tour.

Towering panels of glass have been installed in the northwest corner, and the glass carries a faint pattern in it, meant to discourage birds from crashing into the windows.

The home and visiting team locker rooms have their own entrances to the arena floor, eliminating a Bradley Center feature that can be entertaining to fans but perhaps not the players. "That way, they don't have to go down the same hallway together," Sorge said.

Framing is complete and drywall hung for some of the 34 suites that range from $200,000 to more than $300,000 per year. Five remain to be sold, and potential customers will now be able hear the sales pitch from the construction site.

Employment on the site will swell to 800 to 900 workers once the building is completely enclosed in late fall, Sorge said.

As that milestone is reached, it's clear that the Bucks aren't alone in taking the long view of what all involved believe will be a downtown landmark. Other businesses - like a group that was gathered near the Mortenson Contstruction trailer - hope to join the team for the long haul, once the facility opens.

"The group behind us, those guys are some of the bidders for cleaning of the building," Sorge said.

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