Sprint Center open house?

[Ez Street]

I was listening to 810 today and there was a commercial I barely caught about the Sprint Center having an open house on Saturday October 11th.

I think they said from 10-8, you can get a behind the scenes look.

Anyone have any other info, I can't find anything.

[Ez Street]

Sprint Center Hosts First Anniversary Open House
Downtown Arena Celebrates Saturday with Cake and Ice Cream
Admission is Free and the Public is Welcome for Treats and Tour

Kansas City, Mo. (Oct. 9, 2008) – Sprint Center will mark its first anniversary by thanking Kansas Citians for their support with a cake-and-ice-cream open house on Saturday, Oct. 11. The celebration is free and open to the public.. Guests are invited to tour the Arena between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Visitors may pick up a ticket at Sprint Center Box Office and use the Grand Boulevard entrance.

“This celebration is the result of hard work from many individuals throughout the year, but most of all it’s to express our thanks to the people and the city of Kansas City,” said Brenda Tinnen, Sprint Center General Manager. “Sprint Center has become a showcase for the region and is a state-of-the-art reflection of the spirit of Kansas City.”

In an effort to echo that Kansas City spirit and lend local flavor to the celebration, Pastry Goddess will create a replica Sprint Center cake and Shatto Dairy will provide milk and ice cream.

Guests are encouraged to tour the Arena. Tinnen said that this is a good opportunity for first-time visitors, as well as regular attendees.

“Our guests will even be able to tour parts of Sprint Center known as ‘back of house,’ such as locker rooms, a star dressing room and the media dining room,” she said. “And for first-timers, there’s the opportunity to see basketball configuration and seating arrangement prior to attending an actual show or event.”

Since opening a year ago, Sprint Center has hosted more than 130 events and shows, and has welcomed more than 1.3 million guests.

[NDTeve]

Wonder if Cordish is boycotting this event.

[Maitre D]

AEG runs a very good operation in the building.  They do a good job with PR for the most part and the 5x or so i've been there, the employees have been very high quality - esp given their pay.

[LenexatoKCMO]

esp given their pay.

I had kind of wondered if perhaps AEG wasn't paying a tad over typical market rate for such positions - I too have noticed that the staff their seems remarkably consciencious and dedicated compared to most sports venues. 

[Maitre D]

They may overpay, wouldn't surprise me if they did.

[SingleMalt12]

"Hey, and you can see the locker rooms too!  They were built when promoters actually thought that a sports team or two might need them.  Now, of course, the locker rooms are being used for storage of things like unused hockey and basketball tickets."

[kcmokid]

I dont think I'm going to be able to make it down there today.  Can somebody going get some photos of the "behind the scenes" areas?  I'm curious what it all looks like!  Thanks in advance...

[KCRoyal]

...Can somebody going get some photos of the "behind the scenes" areas?  I'm curious what it all looks like!  Thanks in advance...

For me too please? 

[mtell1]

I went and it was nice to see areas that I've never seen in an arena before.  Not the best of quality pics but here are a few.





Zamboni's:


Back loading dock.  When the circus was here a few weeks ago, the animals came through here a couple times a day and went straight to the arena floor.


Part of the dressing room where performers get ready:


Room for all the support personnel to use that might be traveling with the act at the Sprint Center.  You can sort of tell by this picture but all of the concert acts that have played here so far have a poster in here that they've autographed.


Home hockey team dressing room.  Notice you can see the stands through the door.


Home hockey team head coaches office:


Home basketball teams locker room:


Basketball team sinks.  It's hard to tell from the picture but everything in here is built with a basketball player in mind, meaning the sinks are a bit higher than a standard sink size.

[KCRoyal]

Wow.  Thanks for posting.  Geez, I wish I had come down yesterday!

[Midtownkid]

I checked it out, but didnt even think about checking out the locker rooms etc. 

[mykem]

Wow! I'm surprised AEG actually allowed a camera back there. Thanks for the pics!

[mtell1]

Wow! I'm surprised AEG actually allowed a camera back there. Thanks for the pics!

No questions asked.  They just checked my camera bag at security on the way in.  All of the Sprint Center people were very friendly and courteous in all levels of the arena.

[KCMax]

You can see where they had to scrape the Penguins logo off! &&&