Staples Center Vision Is Fast Taking Shape

Where center ice and center court will be, giant steel beams lay scattered like pickup sticks. Where music and cheers will be heard, the only noise is from the pounding of hammers and rasping of saws. Where pucks will be slapped past hapless goalies and basketballs will be slam-dunked off vibrating rims, only dust is flying through the air.

The Staples Center, whose price tag has grown to $360 million--$110 million more than initial estimates and up $10 million from six months ago--is still a work in progress. But slightly more than seven months from the projected date for a certificate of occupancy, Sept. 30, the new home of the Lakers, Clippers and Kings is rapidly adding flesh to its skeleton.

The floor of the Chick Hearn press room is littered with debris, but the room’s outline is clear. So is the place where a partition will divide the room into work and dining areas. The Zamboni entrance is visible, as are the shells of the locker rooms for the three local teams.

Pipes for the showers protrude from the walls in the Clippers’ locker room. Piles of drywall and girders are stacked in the Lakers’ room, where a burning smell attests to ongoing welding. In the Kings’ home away from home, the doorway to the coach’s office has been framed and the walls are in place for a spacious players’ lounge, an amenity the Forum lacks.

Looking up from the doorway to the tunnel that will run behind the hockey teams’ benches, the immensity of the arena is overwhelming.

At 1 million square feet, it will be nearly three times the size of the Forum. It will seat 20,000 for basketball, up from 17,505 at the Forum, and 18,000 for hockey, up from 16,005. The roof, which is scheduled to be completed in April, will be 200,000 square feet.

One day last week, a huge crane lifted into place a 150,000-pound secondary truss that will support the roof. Other trusses, to be hoisted and maneuvered into place by even bigger cranes, are being assembled on the dirt floor. They will be positioned in a north-south direction and will weigh 400,000 pounds. As many as 600 hard-hatted workers are on the job during the day, a number that drops to 150 to 200 at night.

“The magnitude of the arena is unique,” said construction superintendent Greg Farnham, who previously worked on the Denver International Airport and Hawaii convention center but never before worked on an arena. “There are so many different systems, you have to be able to coordinate them all.”

The arena will rise 140 feet from street level and 160 feet from the event level. The 160 suites--of which all but 36 are sold--are stacked in three-level decks. Suites will feature amenities such as refrigerators and sinks and will be wired for modems and fax machines; steps are in place for theater seating in the larger suites. The top-of-the-line $300,000 models were sold out before the price could be printed on brochures. The Arena Club, which will be at the north end and will consist of a 500-seat restaurant and club open to suite and premier seat holders, can be distinguished at the north end. It will offer indoor and outdoor dining.

Some design changes have been made along the way. One modification allows for media seating for the Lakers on the lower level and another, requested by King TV announcer Bob Miller, led to a TV booth that is lower than the main hockey press box and will provide better angles for televising games.

A walking tour of the concourse uncovers kitchens, mechanical rooms and the area where the teams and arena management will have offices. A TV studio and production facility will be built near the offices. Not far away is the Star Plaza, where fans can buy plaques that will be embedded in the sidewalk, with proceeds going to the Staples Center Foundation.

From any seat, it’s never a long walk to a refreshment stand because there will be 24 stands, compared with four at the Forum. Perhaps most important, there will be 55 restrooms, compared with merely four sets at the Forum.

“My wife was the focus group on that one,” said Tim Leiweke, president of the Kings and the Staples Center.

The design of the seating area will be dramatically different for fans accustomed to the Forum. One obvious change is at each end in the upper level, behind the basket or net, where there will be six rows of seats instead of the 25 at the Forum.

“People in the upper deck are going to be up,” Leiweke said. “The Forum has a gradual build-out, but our new seating goes up. It’s like the [Arrowhead] Pond. . . . It’s going to be a 20,000-seat arena. There are more seats, so there are going to be some people who are further away than they are at the Forum. But overall, I think people will be very pleased.”

Construction remains on target for an October opening. The Kings’ home debut remains tentatively scheduled for Oct. 23, although Leiweke said it may move up a few days because the construction has gone so well.

Farnham said favorable weather has allowed work to proceed rapidly.

“It’s been mostly cooperative since El Nino last year,” he said. “That’s when we were playing around in the ground, so it didn’t set us back.”

Said Leiweke, “We have a high degree of confidence in the construction schedule. This will be a prototype of how to build these things in 18 months instead of 24.”

The Kings are planning to play two exhibition games at the Forum and start the season with an extended trip, perhaps as long as seven games. The Lakers and Clippers, whose seasons begin in early November, won’t know the dates for their Staples Center debuts until July or August, when the NBA releases its schedule for next season.

The first event at the arena has not yet been determined, but a gala or concert are among the possibilities. Public tours may also be held for fans.

The arena’s first year could be a hectic one. Staples Center officials expect to learn next month whether the Democratic National Committee will choose the arena for the 2000 Democratic convention. Staples Center officials have also made a pitch for the Grammy Awards next February.

“If all these things happen, it will be a tremendous first season for the arena,” said Bobby Goldwater, senior vice president and general manager of the Staples Center. “The prospect is very exciting.

“We could open with a concert, like most arenas, but we think in L.A., we should explore opportunities that are a little bigger, a little more special.”

Ceremonies will be held at the openers of the Kings, Lakers and Clippers to mark each occasion uniquely.

“We will have championship banners and retired jerseys displayed,” Goldwater said. “We’re working on how to best have them displayed. We’ll have plenty of room to hang championship banners. My dream is for the Lakers and Clippers to meet for the conference championship and have every home game at the Staples Center.”

Ideas are being discussed on how to create and maintain a good ice surface, a problem the Forum has long battled. Maintaining ice that isn’t mushy will be vital in a building that will get frequent use and is likely to present basketball-hockey doubleheaders. Separate sensors are planned for each end of the ice to better control the temperatures, and a humidifier will be used.

While construction progresses, work also continues on the arena’s financial and business aspects.

Negotiations are near conclusion with the last of 10 founding partners, and an announcement may identify that corporation this week. The others are United Airlines, PacBell, McDonald’s, PepsiCo, Toyota Motor Sales, Anheuser-Busch, BankAmerica Corp., the Los Angeles Times and Sempra Energy.

Staples Inc., which will pay $100 million over 20 years to have its name on the arena, was designated the naming-rights partner. FOX/Liberty Networks, which has a 40% interest in the arena and has options to buy minority stakes in the Kings and Lakers, is the entertainment partner.

Premier seats, which will offer privileges such as club membership, will go on sale to the public within 30 days. Current Senate Seat holders had first claim and most bought the seats, which were priced at $12,800 and $14,800. Fewer than 700 of 2,500 Premier seats will be available, and there is a waiting list of 250.

Leiweke also said final arrangements are being made on a key aspect of the building’s financing. Asset-backed securities will be sold on the open market, with investors given a fixed return.

“It’s really the last great hurdle for the building, the last hurdle for the opener,” Leiweke said. “Investors get a solid, steady return on their investment because we back it with our long-term investment.”