(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The City Council of Ontario, California, has hired PCL Construction Services to help build the planned 10,500-seat AEG-operated community events center.
PCL is a veteran of successful sports arena projects, including the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. The firm was credited with the innovative use of pre-cast concrete to build the 20,000-seat arena – which is now home to the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers, the NHL’s Kings, the WNBA’s Sparks and the Arena Football League’s Avengers – in just 18 months.
PCL will join project architects Rossetti and Associates on the southern California project. Rossetti and Associates previously designed the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
Along with AEG’s involvement in the project, City Manager Greg Devereaux told the city’s Daily Bulletin, “We’ve got a first-class team together to design, build and manage this facility.”
City officials have been referring to the arena as a “community events center,” which Devereaux says more accurately depicts what the facility will be upon completion. AEG plans to bring concerts and family shows to the venue on a regular basis, as it does with the Staples Center. In addition, Hollywood producer Barry Kemp is planning to bring a minor league hockey team to the center.
The events center is the anticipated centerpiece of a larger “urban village” including office buildings, condominiums, retail stores, a health club and a luxury hotel.
Estimates put the price tag of the arena at $55 million, but Devereaux told the paper that he expects increased costs of construction materials will push that number higher. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
