Another milestone has been reached in the construction of HarborCenter. Exterior wall panels have started going up around the facility and crews are preparing the wood beams that will be installed to hold the roof up over the ice rinks.
HarborCenter President John Koelmel says he is very pleasantly surprised with the progress being made on the $170 million hockey/entertainment complex.
"I've been here every day. I see these guys that have been out here busting their butts in the worst of the winter all year long. They're just doing a fabulous, fabulous effort," Koelmel said of the nearly 200 construction workers.
"So. it's a little bit of they reap the rewards of their hardy efforts in those tough months and now see the project really start to pop and really start to go vertical."
As part of a construction update, Koelmel led reporters on a walking tour of the site.
"This is Rink One. This will be our feature rink," Koelmel said while stopping on the wide open sixth floor.
"This is the one that will have seating for 1,800, plus or minus. There will be standing room up top. There will be concessions stands and seating areas, as well."
The complex will also have a two-story restaurant, retail shops, and 750-space parking ramp.
Project Superintendent Ryan Poropat says the wood trusses over the two ice rinks will start going in by the end of next week.
"In the matter of a week to two weeks it's going to be a completely different site up here with more concrete poured, more deck, more stadia, and the roof going on. It's going to be night and day from even today."
The first face off in HarborCenter is six months away. And a 200-room hotel is scheduled to open in May of 2015.