WHEN WILL IT BECOME OBSOLETE?
Listen closely and you might hear it amid the echo of footsteps on terrazzo floors.
Look closely and you might see it in the shadows of the subtly angled ceiling.
Or pay special attention when Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band take the stage to open Staples Center tonight. If they play the song “Glory Days,” mark the words, “Well, they’ll pass you by.”
Because even now, on opening night, you might wonder when this $400-million arena--perhaps the grandest and certainly the most costly ever built--will become obsolete.
Will it last 67 years, like Boston Garden? Or even 32 years, like the Great Western Forum?
Will it fall by the wayside in a heartbeat, like Miami Arena, home of the Miami Heat, which is being replaced by a newer, shinier building after only 11 years?
“That’s exceedingly short,” said Bill Dorsey, an industry consultant. “But the shelf life of new stadiums and arenas is going to become shorter and shorter.”
That could mean 20 years or less, Dorsey said, though Staples Center executives are hoping for a little more. The fact is, with design and technology advancing at breakneck pace, the hint of something bigger and better is just around the corner.
Even Ed Roski Jr., a Staples Center co-owner, sees the writing on the wall.
“Things are changing so fast these days,” Roski said. “Eventually, people will be saying ‘What a dog this is!’ and ‘How can we pull this thing down?’ ”
It’s a big change from the old days, when arenas were judged mainly by the teams that played in them. Championship banners more than compensated for obstructed sight lines or a lack of air conditioning. But since the 1980s, professional teams have found themselves competing for consumer dollars, battling a brash new world of big-screen televisions, satellite dishes and Internet access.
“There are almost too many entertainment options,” said Dorsey, who advises more than 500 sports venues from his Assn. of Luxury Suite Directors in Cincinnati. “People can spend money in so many different ways and they want a quality experience.”
Thus began the “suite revolution.” The Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich., fired the first shot, opening in 1988 with 180 suites, private restaurants and luxury touches never before seen in sports.
That same year, Miami Arena opened with only 16 sky boxes--a fatal flaw. Subsequent arenas such as the United Center in Chicago, the Rose Garden in Portland and the MCI Center in Washington did not make the same mistake.
This fall, seven more arenas--chock full of even more amenities--will debut in cities from New Orleans to Denver. At a combined cost of $1.4 billion, they represent perhaps the last stanza of the movement.
Staples Center has taken the concept to a new level with its 160 suites, an upscale restaurant that overlooks the games and a $10,500-a-year private club. The building is equipped with much of the latest technology, including an octagonal scoreboard capable of showing high-definition images.
“We didn’t think of everything because we can’t predict the future,” said Tim Leiweke, the arena’s president. “But we know that people expect a hell of a lot more now.”
The owners paid dearly for a design of graceful curves and slopes, nothing boxy about the place. Fans enter through a palm tree-lined plaza, stepping into immense glass atriums with those hand-troweled terrazzo floors. They are greeted by expensive finishes of wood, metal and drywall, and relatively little concrete.
“Traditionally, [arenas] are seen as very functional buildings,” said Dan Meis, the lead designer. “We tried to take a more sophisticated approach. There was an attitude of making the whole building feel like an entertainment complex.”
Banks of video screens vibrate with replays. Laser beams pulsate to the beat of a $1.5-million sound system. Multicolored lights glow from artwork that hovers above the terrace on the upper concourse.
“That’s the way you . . . compete with Disneyland and CityWalk and everything else that’s going on in the world,” said Meis, of NBBJ Sports & Entertainment. “You make it an interesting experience. You draw in people who aren’t rabid fans.”
But how long will the thrill last? Even as the newest arenas open their doors to the public, industry experts look toward a next generation that will offer more in the way of “programming”--more to see and do.
The shift has already begun.
Staples Center has a sports apparel store and the Fox Sports Sky Box, a street-side eatery, both of which hope to attract patrons even when games aren’t scheduled. The American Airlines Arena, soon to replace Miami Arena, will feature themed restaurants owned by pop singers Gloria Estefan and Jimmy Buffet. In Atlanta, Philips Arena has its own shopping mall, “Hawk Walk,” with stores and bars.
“We want people to come early and stay later,” said Janet Marie Smith, president of Turner Sports and Entertainment Development, the arena’s owner. “As arenas become more and more sophisticated, we’re investing more and more in retail and restaurants to support the 20,000 seats.”
The next generation will go a step further, bringing more “programming” directly to those seats, each armrest equipped with a computer screen and touch pad.
“You can have your own instant replay, get access to the Internet, order your food, get your e-mail,” Dorsey said. “You can gamble if it’s legal in that area.”
“Smart seats” have been tested at numerous sites, among them the 1998 Super Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. But the hardware remains somewhat cumbersome and, more important, expensive. As Meis explained, “Owners are asking about them a lot, but the cost per seat isn’t justified by the value you bring to fans.”
So arena executives play the waiting game, confident the price of the technology will come down. But will it take 10 years? Fifteen years? Twenty years?
The Rose Garden took the unusual step of preparing itself, spending extra during construction to run fiber-optic cable throughout the building. When “smart seats” come of age, they can be plugged right in.
“It’s a good idea to be ready,” said J.E. Isaac, senior vice president for business affairs. “I see that day coming.”
Staples Center, like most other arenas, does not. At least not for a while.
Its high-tech programming is provided mainly in the form of high-definition television with that giant scoreboard and a state-of-the-art production studio. The suites have fax modem ports and television monitors that show games from across the nation via satellite feed. No provisions have been made for the installation of “smart seats.”
Meis defends the decision: “The technology trends we found to be more interesting were great sound, great lighting systems, making the building more flexible for a number of kinds of events.”
But, even now, Roski imagines a day when fans will wear sci-fi goggles so they can watch over Kobe Bryant’s shoulder as the Laker swingman dribbles up court. He peers into the future and sees the life of his downtown arena flashing before his eyes.
“The building will be great for a while,” Roski guesses, figuring it will remain cutting-edge well into the next century. Then comes a period of adaptation, trying to stay fresh with new features and gadgets. Then comes the cry: “Pull this thing down!”
If all goes according to plan, this progression will span at least 25 years--the length of the leases the Lakers and Kings signed to play in Staples Center. After that, the building might have a second life as a special-events facility, much as the Forum is now becoming.
And that might be the most any arena can expect in this day and age.
“I think 20 years is a very good shelf life now,” Dorsey said. “Thirty or 40 years? Those days are gone.”
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