BOK Center Sneak Peek

The grand opening of Tulsa's BOK Center is Saturday, but the doors are open already for sneak previews.  The News On 6's Emory Bryan reports some private tours are providing some with a first look inside.

There are plenty of grand features, like the main entrance and that iconic glass wall.  It allows light to flood inside during the daytime with a fine view of downtown.  At night it's the backdrop for a light show.  The sweeping colors are part of the final testing to make sure everything works.

The bowl of the arena features a $2 million scoreboard that expands to show massive video screens or for concerts collapses into the ceiling.

All that technology is driven by state of the art equipment said to be on par with the best arenas in the country.

One of the main considerations during the construction of the BOK Center was the seats.  It had to have enough to attract a Big 12 basketball tournament, yet each seat had to be comfortable and the mandate was to make them more comfortable than the seats in the Ford Center in Oklahoma City.

The seats in Tulsa are wider, in some cases, by several inches.  For now, the arena is set with the stage on one end, but that's variable, too.  All that versatility helps attract artists and that sells tickets.

"Artists will come as long as people keep buying tickets and Tulsa has been amazing for that, everything has sold out or met expectations so far," said Jerry Goldman with SMG Tulsa.

The design creates plenty of good seats, but few better than in the Lobeck-Taylor suite.  Tulsa's Mayor will have one of the best views in the house.

The Cesar Pelli design, and the artwork scattered through the building, are attractions on their own.  The floor has inlaid mosaics, the hallways have places to stop and rest and the architecture is unlike anything in Tulsa, inside and out.

The grand opening for the public is this Saturday morning.

NewsOn6.com will provide live streaming coverage of this landmark event in Tulsa history.