Chesapeake Energy Arena opened its doors Monday “for its first event -- a WWE show --- following the completion of the majority of projects included in the $36 million final phase” of renovations, according to Darnell Mayberry of THE OKLAHOMAN. The improvements “are a slice of the final wave of a three-phase renovation project Oklahoma City residents in 2008 voted to approve with a one-cent sales tax.” The cylinder that greets patrons as they walk through the doors of the northeast entrance “is one of several video boards and high-end television sets that have been added.” At the northwest entrance, “another video board, this one in the shape of a shield, hangs on the wall” and adjacent to it “is an enormous projection screen that sits above the escalator leading to the club level.” Throughout the 100 level, “20 wedge-shaped televisions have been added along the concourse.” The most “impressive and inviting improvement is to the floors, walls and ceiling of the 100 level.” Gray concrete floors “have been replaced with bright, multicolored terrazzo painted in the Thunder's orange, blue and white colors” and the ceiling “has been dropped, finished and improved with additional lighting.” New “way-finding signage such as numbered seating sections and informative directional instructions also has been added.” On the outside of the building, “a 74-foot wide, 20-foot tall video board displays advertising and live footage.” The arena also has added “additional eating options throughout the concourse and is in the process of completing renovations on clubs and restaurants, as well as a grand entrance on the southwest side of the building that will be ready in June 2012” (THE OKLAHOMAN, 10/12).
