In N.Y., Denis Hamill wrote Barclays Center has "transformed Brooklyn into the live music capital of the country and a major pro sports cathedral without creating the traffic and environmental problems the naysayers predicted." Forest City Ratner Chair & CEO Bruce Ratner said, "Last year when Barclays Center was finished I worried whether people would come. It has exceeded all expectations" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/8).
PLUCKY DUCKS: Honda Center officials on Friday announced that the venue's $20M Grand Terrace expansion "will open Oct. 10, coinciding with the Ducks' first home game this season" against the Rangers. In California, Art Marroquin noted the Grand Terrace "adds 15,000 square feet of indoor and entertainment space at the Honda Center’s main entrance." The entrance will be "flanked by a pair [of] 15-foot-by-25-foot screens that will display high-definition game highlights and postgame broadcasts." The ground level "will include a 200-seat, full-service restaurant" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 9/7).
ISN'T IT ICONIC? In L.A., Scott Wolf reported the peristyle columns at L.A. Memorial Coliseum are "no longer visible inside the stadium" during USC home games because of "temporary suites erected for this season." The suites are "two stories high and block the view of the signature columns in the east end zone of the historic structure." USC recently took control of the Coliseum, and "plans to make renovations" costing up to $100M (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 9/8).
