Comments for the architects about the Sprint Center

GRID · Post by **GRID** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 3:40 pm

They have to do a fountain, a big one, they just have to. Then somebody needs to get creative on what to do with the McGee bridge over I-670. It will now T up with WB Truman. It could be the site of a fountain, pedestrian mall etc.

But, if I hear one more person say cows or anything associated with Kansas like rainbows, oz, yellow brick roads, wheat, hay bails etc, I am going to freak out.

Giant BBQ stuff etc. Come on KC we have more culture than BBQ and Cows.

Tosspot · Post by **Tosspot** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 3:43 pm

Anything associated with yellow brick roads makes me want to hurl..AND it elucidates the hidebound ignorance of whoever would suggest such a thing, given that this arena will be in MISSOURI and not Kansas. As I've said before, there are so many morons who think all of Kansas City is in the state of Kansas.

GRID · Post by **GRID** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 12:25 am

Tosspot wrote:Anything associated with yellow brick roads makes me want to hurl..AND it elucidates the hidebound ignorance of whoever would suggest such a thing, given that this arena will be in MISSOURI and not Kansas. As I've said before, there are so many morons who think all of Kansas City is in the state of Kansas.

Yea, and come to think of it, do we really want a Californian designing a KC icon? I have yet to find a Californian (not from KC) who respects KC in the slightest.

WoodDraw · Post by **WoodDraw** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 12:38 am

WET Design has done both the Barney Allis Plaza fountain and the Bloch fountain so I'm not sure that is really an issue?

FangKC · Post by **FangKC** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 3:37 am

ComandanteCero wrote:And this may sound strange.... but oh my god would it be cool if you could do a winding garden from the street level to the top of the building!!!!! or atleast accessible from the building, and you are able to go to a garden on top!!!!. ... But if you have a garden on top, that would be the ultimate icing ... think of the photo ops!! It can't be too hard to make happen

I've thought for a long time that it would be cool to design an arena to simulate the mythical Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It would be a rectangular and stepped semi-pyramid with outcropped terraces, waterfalls, and plantings all over it.

I've set up a photo album with some drawings of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon so that one can imagine what an arena might look like if it were designed in a similar fashion.

http://www.kcskyscrapers.com/kcpics/Han ... ensBabylon

However, to get the most benefit out of its design, it would have to be built in a more temperate climate so that the gardens could be a year-round feature. Some place like Miami, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tampa-St. Petersburg, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Phoenix, Tucson, or Hawaii.

BVC · Post by **BVC** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 4:14 pm

First off, they are on the right track...

Glass is good...
Keep the glass encasing for the full arena and extend it to the roof. There is the technology out there to use a laminated plastic like substance that would allow them a stronger and lighter than steel roof material that would allow absolutely breathtaking views. A crystalizing, self-tinting substance would shade the arena during the day but allow the spectacular skyline views at night.

Lose the ET mothership look...
Make this creative and innovaive but not at the expense of being laughable to the rest of the world. Make the slope less dramatic if indeed this is the final chosen design.

MidtownCat · Post by **MidtownCat** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 5:13 pm

The large reflecting pool/fountain is a great idea. It will accentuate the architectural design and dramatic lighting ten fold. The conversion to a skating rink during the late fall and winter is strong, as there will be upwards of 5 months where it will need to be used for an alternate function. Possibly a pedestrian bridge that passes directly over the water could be dynamic.

I'd like to see integrating terraced platforms in to the paving/landscape design to allow for natural seating and possibly a sculptural element that could be used as a stage area or band shell. Basically, a civic space that could act as a pseudo amphitheatre to take in a live performance or watch images projected on the screen.

Bottom line, anything and everything that continues to promote the idea of this place being active 365 days of the year.

eliphar17 · Post by **eliphar17** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 12:05 pm

I just sent all the above comments to the architect at CDFMÂ², and here is his response:

"The images that have been published are just a concept and only a very rough one at that. The next step in the process is for the city to negotiate a contract with us and then begin the programming phase. From the program we will begin design and the many changes and refinements in design will lead to the final product. I can't say if the final built arena will look like interview images but it is a lot of fun so far."

kurtiebird · Post by **kurtiebird** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 4:04 pm

So what you're saying is, the end product will probably look exactly like the Qwest Center? Damn.

KCDevin · Post by **KCDevin** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:24 pm

No it'll be much much much better than the Qwest Center...

aknowledgeableperson · Wed Oct 06, 2004 11:10 pm

My question is "Is the building designed from the inside out or outside in?" Since there is a limited space for the building and for open areas around it, and limited funds, I don't believe that people would want to sacrifice what goes inside for an overly elaborate exterior.

All comments listed so far concerns the exterior, what about what is inside? Need to have oversized dressing rooms. Need plenty of storage for equipment. Excavate the ground so that the arena floor is below street level. And don't forget more than the standard number of concession stands and restrooms.

On for the outside there should be a walkway to/from the arena and KC Live.

ComandanteCero · Post by **ComandanteCero** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 11:14 pm

the way i figure is that i'm only going to interact with the interior about once or twice during the year, but i'm going to have to interact with the exterior atleast once a month (at the rate i'm in the downtown cbd anyway, hopefully that will increase with the p+l district). So yeah, good interior is obviously good. But make the exterior as eye opening jaw dropping and interactive as possible. Many more people will see the exterior while in the P+L district while doing other things than when actually going inside. again, i'll try to make this the last time..... put a garden/public space on top of the space ship!!!

aknowledgeableperson · Wed Oct 06, 2004 11:50 pm

But given the limited budget that has been established, at least for now, do you have just an average interior with a wow exterior? Or do you have an excellent interior with an average exterior?

Points to be made. Teams playing in the arena complaining about the dressing rooms and showers. Fans complaining about restroom and concession lines. Complaints about sightlines. Complaints about ticket lines and long waits getting into the building, especially in bad weather. People camplaining about getting wet from the water displays in windy weather. People saying the sound system sucks, or the scoreboard, as they have about Kemper in the past. And don't forget the complaints about legroom in the seats and the width of the seats and the lack of cupholders.

trailerkid · Post by **trailerkid** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 11:58 pm

Points to be made. "aknowledgeableperson mostly" complaining about the dressing rooms and showers. "aknowledgeableperson mostly" complaining about restroom and concession lines. Complaints about sightlines. Complaints about ticket lines and long waits getting into the building, especially in bad weather. "aknowledgeableperson mostly" camplaining about getting wet from the water displays in windy weather. "aknowledgeableperson mostly" saying the sound system sucks, or the scoreboard, as they have about Kemper in the past. And don't forget the complaints about legroom in the seats and the width of the seats and the lack of cupholders.

tat2kc · Post by **tat2kc** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 3:34 pm

AKP, there's really only one reason we've focused most of the comments on the exterior. All the firms involved have a great track record of producing interiors and amenities that appel to both patrons and teams/tenants. They produce fantasic insides. It is the outside that we want them to bring up to the levels of what they typically do on the inside. Thats it.

aknowledgeableperson · Fri Oct 08, 2004 3:51 pm

There are insides and then there are insides. With the limited budget what takes priority? The outside might be awesome but if they cheapen the inside for the outside then the City could end up with an arena with few people attending events, and maybe fewer events. The ticket buyers needs should be taken care of since they are the ones paying the bill more or less. If it was up to me the creature comforts are first and the exterior is second.

FangKC · Post by **FangKC** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 5:27 pm

aknowledgeableperson wrote:There are insides and then there are insides. With the limited budget what takes priority? The outside might be awesome but if they cheapen the inside for the outside then the City could end up with an arena with few people attending events, and maybe fewer events. The ticket buyers needs should be taken care of since they are the ones paying the bill more or less. If it was up to me the creature comforts are first and the exterior is second.

I'm all for wider seats. That's one of my chief complaints about arena seating. I can only imagine what my complaint would be if I were overweight, like 40 percent of the US population. The other thing I wish they'd do is to make the aisle in front of the seats where one walks wider. I hate tripping over a dozen people's legs trying to get to the aisle, or get into my seat. I wonder how many people get drinks dumped in their laps because of this.

It is my understanding that ticket buyers aren't largely paying for the arena per se. They are paying to see the events in the arena. It is my understanding that the arena is being paid for by sales taxes on hotels and rental cars; plus money put into it by AEG ($50 million I believe); and naming rights ($10 million from Sprint if memory serves me). I'd imagine that some portion of ticket sales will pay for maintenance of the arena, but most of the profit from ticket sales will go to the event (sports team, concert, etc). I'm sure that the city will get a cut of the concessions as well, which will help pay to run the facility.

If the exterior of the building wasn't somewhat important, we could get by with a really large version of a non-descript metal farm implement shed, or an airplane hangar. If aesthetics weren't important here, we'd all live in trailers; or in concrete block houses like they do in third-world countries.

Isn't it true that the exterior aesthetics of the Country Club Plaza are what make it attractive? I doubt that it would be as successful a shopping center and public space if it were built like a strip mall, or a gargantuan warehouse grocery store.

aknowledgeableperson · Sat Oct 09, 2004 3:58 pm

The ticket buyers will also pay a user fee per ticket to help in the debt service payments.

I am not saying to disregard the exterior but the comforts of the interior should not be put into second place behind the exterior. Don't want a building that is only skin deep.

Tosspot · Post by **Tosspot** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:34 pm

For the architects/planners of the Sprint Center arena:

Can we please see to it that this arena incorporates proliferous amounts of retail, restaurant, and bar space on the immediate grounds of the arena? In the past, many arenas have forsaken the lively pedestrian action that on-site retail brings, in displays of hubris, by trying to act as a monument in and of itself and not as an organic component of the surrounding area.

I'm afraid that if we don't do it right, the arena will be a giant dead spot in the Power & Light District when it's not gameday. I hear that the new Charlotte arena is a good example of doing it right- getting live bodies in the area at all hours of the day thanks to other attractions in and immediately surrounding the arena. Displays of "starchitecture" are fine as long as the builders don't simply erect some leviathan monument to their own architectural genius that does nothing to enhance the surrounding street scene.