The impact of the impressive glass wall now installed at MTS Centre along Portage Avenue makes an architectural statement about the future of downtown for all to see. It also signals that, with the new state of the art theatre for sport and entertainment more than 80% finished, the finishing phase has begun.
The expanding construction workforce increasingly includes "fit and finish" trades like electricians, drywallers, tile installers and painters who are working to a schedule that will guarantee the facility is ready for its grand opening in November of this year.
In addition to the wave of glass along the Portage Avenue front, finishing is progressing on the exterior walls on all sides of the building. Many of the prefab metal wall panels are installed and masons are erecting the Tyndal stone and red brick sections of the curtain wall along Donald, Graham and Hargrave. Window frames and glass are in place at street level around the entire facility.
The pace of work toward finishing the interior spaces of MTS Centre is also picking up. At the event/ice floor level, about twenty feet below the street, the final three feet of gravel was removed from the arena bowl and the last section of the concrete event floor was poured this week. The pre-fabricated concrete sections of the lower bowl seating stadia are being erected in preparation for the arrival of more than 15,000 seats beginning in mid July.
On the main concourse the steel framing, drywalling and tile work for the concessions, food services and washrooms is taking place. At the suite level, which connects into the downtown skywalk, walls have been erected defining each of the Centre's fifty private suites. Similar kinds of activity is going on around the upper concourse.
High above the construction action, overlooking the spaces of the massive seating bowl and the event floor far below, the steel deck and concrete slab floor of the new press box is installed allowing a panoramic view of the entire building as it quickly takes shape.
For more information contact:
Jim Millican
Senior Vice President Marketing and Communications
True North Sports and Entertainment Limited
(204) 989 - 6813
[MTS Centre Construction Updates Archive]
