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June 15, 2009
Evoking Brooklyn like never before
Nets Daily has posted some excerpts from a SportsBusiness Journal update on the Conseco Fieldhouse, we mean new Barclays Center, complete with some novel new spin from Nets' CEO Brett Yormark.
SportsBusiness Journal, Nets’ arena vision: ‘Brooklyn brand’ [Subscription required]
With sports architect Ellerbe Becket officially replacing renowned civic designer Frank Gehry on the New Jersey Nets’ Barclays Center project, the Nets are redeveloping their venue plans by focusing on the “Brooklyn brand.”
Nets Daily, Yormark Provides Details on Arena Design…and New Practice Facility
Before flying off to China Saturday, Brett Yormark provided Sports Business Journal with details on the new Barclays Center design…and a Brooklyn practice facility. The design includes a tighter seating bowl entered from street level, a mix of large and “mini-suites”, more in-house TV feeds, and plenty of natural light, said Yormark. Bottom line: “the building is now going to evoke Brooklyn like never before.”
Nets Daily, Excerpts: Sports Business Journal on New Arena Design
Yormark needs to rethink his alleged "I only sleep three hours a night" routine, because every time he opens his mouth, he sounds more and more delirious.
Gehry had never designed a big league arena before Nets owner Bruce Ratner called, whereas Ellerbe brings experience in building multiple NBA arenas that will help get the job done in time for a planned 2011 opening.
NoLandGrab: That was the whole point — the big sell on the arena was that it would be Gehry's first big-league arena. And Metrotech will freeze over before a Brooklyn arena opens in 2011.
"The biggest change is that the building is now going to evoke Brooklyn like never before,” he said. “There’s such a legacy there. Wherever I travel, it is an international brand. They wear it on their hats and on their chests. We’re going … to brand Brooklyn in a big-time way, and it will start with the look and feel of the building."
NLG: Yes, nothing evokes Brooklyn like a knock-off of an Indianapolis design knocked off from another Indianapolis design. There is, however, a Brooklyn, Indiana. Brooklyn, New York is pretty well branded already, no?
The 18,000-seat arena’s two suite levels will be called the Brownstones and the Lofts.
NLG: In memory of the brownstones and lofts Ratner is tearing down?
Here's confirmation that the Urban Room is d-e-a-d.
In addition, the Nets are building a practice facility next to Barclays Center, on the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic streets, something that was not part of Gehry’s design. The add-on ties in with the team’s effort to form a close bond with Brooklyn’s 2.5 million residents by having the players spend more time on-site, Yormark said.
NLG: Nets players are sure to be psyched that they'll have to drive in from their homes in New Jersey on off-days, too. And nothing says "lively public space" like a closed practice facility.
Is it just us, or is this whole plan getting weirder and weirder by the day?
Posted by eric at June 15, 2009 10:40 AM