Construction crews achieved a major milestone Monday in the building of Sacramento's new downtown Entertainment and Sports Center -- putting in the concrete casting for stadium seating.

Clark Pacific, of Woodland, has dedicated 50 workers to the project, which includes building the upper and lower sections of the new Sacramento Kings arena.

The concrete panels weigh up to 23,000 pounds each. By having all the work done on-site in Woodland, Clark Pacific is exercising quality control.

It is the same quality the company used when building the seating infrastucture for the 49ers' new stadium in Santa Clara.

"The dimensional control is there," said Bob Clark, president of Clark Pacific. "So when we go to install on the job site we know it fits ahead of time. It helps with speed, (and) it helps with safety."

If all goes to plan, when those 700 concrete panels arrive at the downtown arena, they will fit seamlessly, keeping the project on time and under budget.

Peter Tateishi, the new CEO of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce, told KCRA 3 arena construction will trigger even more changes downtown.

"I think in the next year or two you're going to see a lot more development, a lot more opportunities for construction -- maybe even a crane or two."

That new construction will include a 16-story tower to be built by the Sacramento Kings directly across from the arena. The Kings promise it will change the face and feel of the Capital City.

"In addition to the arena, obviously we're also going to be building simultaneously 1.5 million square feet of mixed used development," said Chris Granger, president of the Sacramento Kings.

Granger added that the project will include, a hotel, restaurants, and retail, office and living space.

"We really want this to be the Central Park of Sacramento and we think we're going to be able to achieve it," he said.

But it all starts with the pre-casting of concrete in Woodland, where workers Monday were feeling plenty of hometown pride.

"Our employees love the Kings and when my employees are happy, I'm happy," Clark said.

Those concrete panels will be completed in the next two months. They are expected to arrive at the arena site in late April, with the new Entertainment and Sports Center due to open in October 2016.

 

Source:http://www.kcra.com/

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