BOK Arena Coming Together

There's finally some shape to the arena that's under construction in downtown Tulsa. And pretty soon, some of the distinctive look of the building will be showing up. The News On 6â€™s Emory

Monday, May 14th 2007, 5:00 pm

By: News On 6

There's finally some shape to the arena that's under construction in downtown Tulsa. And pretty soon, some of the distinctive look of the building will be showing up. The News On 6â€™s Emory Bryan reports from up above in SKYNEWS 6 you can see the bowl of the arena, and the shape of things to come.

From street level, the Bank of Oklahoma Events Center towers overhead. But it's going to be even taller than it is now, and much closer to the street.

Ronny Cole can't wait to go inside.

"Concerts and stuff like that, yeah, we need something down here, I wish they would have put a casino right there, but that'll work," said Tulsan Ronny Cole.

The project manager says the glass for the walls is being tested now, and soon the distinctive look of the building will be more obvious.

"You'll see major concrete columns that will support that glass wall and the steel that will go up behind that. None of that steel has been put in place yet, but it's forthcoming," said Bart Boatright, Vision Builders Project Manager.

The exterior metal skin of the building is being manufactured just a few blocks away and within a month, another big job begins, moving and attaching the thousands of panels that will make up the outside walls. On the inside, workers are pouring concrete and installing electrical and mechanical lines.

For tourists who are unfamiliar with what it will be, it's not impressive, at least not yet.

"It doesn't do anything for me or against me. It looks like it's ready to take off," tourist Ken Gage said.

"We're kind of deco people, so it's not a deco stadium," said tourist Peg Gage.

The steel work on the west side is over what will be the administrative area, and on the north side ramps are there for people to get to the higher levels, though there's another layer of steel to go above it and around it.

In the next month there will be big changes that make the building look more like an arena. The project manager says the hardest part is yet to come, which is forming the front of the building. That's where the glass wall will peak and the upper floors will cantilever over the lower ones.

Watch the video: BOK Arena Update

WEB EXTRA: SKYNEWS 6 View Of BOk Arena Construction