Former NBAer Jackie Robinson "is trying to make sports facility design history" by building a $690M arena with a retractable roof "next to SLS Las Vegas on the Strip," according to Alan Snel of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. Robinson's lead architect, Minneapolis-based Cuningham Group Dir of Resort Development Brett Ewing, said that "no other arena in the country has a roof that opens and closes." Robinson "broke ground on the former Wet 'n Wild site Oct. 29" and hopes to open the arena in early '17, though he is "still needing a development agreement" with Clark County. Ewing said that arenas "traditionally are closed because their events do not need grass and an open sky," but this arena "will have a two-panel roof system that opens." Robinson said, "In Las Vegas people come here for the experience and for something you can't find anyplace else." Skeptics of a retractable-roof arena have said that it "needs a fixed roof to support lighting, audio and visual equipment." But N.Y.-based architect Peter Eisenman said that an arena "can be designed with a retractable roof and still accommodate that gear." Ewing said that Robinson's arena "will use the same technology that football and baseball stadium use," just "scaled down." He added that the arena's retractable roof "would be 150 by 200 feet." Ewing said that the arena's "high-tech roof" will cost $60M, "a little less" than 10% of the total cost. Robinson has hired Houston-based engineering consulting company Walter P. Moore, which has "experience with retractable roof sports venues" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 11/23).
