My hometown, Las Vegas, Nevada has often been called the City of Lights, the Silver City, Sin City, and the Entertainment Capital of the World, famous for its mega casino-hotels and its variety of entertainment. Supporting its claim as entertainment capital, the grand opening of the T-Mobile Arena on April 6, 2016 launched a new era of entertainment to be held at the beautiful, new, multi-purpose arena, just West of the Strip.
Todd Goldstein, chief revenue officer at AEG, said in a live panel discussion that, “We’re building [the arena] because there is no replacement for being in that communal experience. Being there live is unlike anything in the world. As great as TV and technology makes these things when you watch it from your sofa, there’s nothing that can replicate being right there seeing the athlete perform or the musician sing.”
The arena is a $375 million joint venture of MGM Resorts International and the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), and a realized design of Populous Architects. I’m proud to have been the Giroux Glass project manager assigned to the job, under general contractor, Hunt Construction Group.
My task was to oversee Giroux Glass’ scope of work which included:
- Exterior panel fabrication and installation of entrance doors, as well as
- Interior glass and glazing of 4-VIP lounge doors, 1- VIP lobby door, 44- suite-level custom laminate glass doors, 2- concourse sliding door systems, 2- MGM suite doors, 6- event-level suite doors, event-level glass corridors, and NHL locker and lobby retail storefronts.
The 5-floor arena spans over 650,000 feet of sport and entertainment space, offers up to 20,000 seats, features six lounge areas, and includes balconies on all VIP and public levels, boasting views outside to The Plaza, The Park, and the Las Vegas Strip — so, needless to say, a lot of glasswork went into building the state-of-the-art facility.
Our hard-working team completed the task, on time, on April 1, 2016, or after about 10 months of our start date. We met up with a few challenges along the way, such as having to install suite doors after the suite build-out was finished (this meant that the doors had to be installed within a few days of substantial completion and turnover to the owner). But it was, overall, such an exciting project to have been a part of!
Thank you to our Giroux Glass T-Mobile Arena team: Thomas Taitano (estimator), Jose Paez (CAD), Art Mortenson (field superintendent), Greg Swetz, John Smith, Brian Cummins, Calvin Boatwright, Eugene Cornett, Paige Davis, Tim Grubbs, Brandon Johnson, Richard Kelly, Blane Midkiff, Keith Olson Sr., Keith Olson Jr., Mike Perreault, Ken Sharpe, Robert Walker, and Ian Murray.
Thanks also to our suppliers: Pulp Studio for back-painted wall glass and laminate glass (chrome gradient & 1% spy glass); C.R. Laurence for door hardware; PRL for door glass and hardware; Trulite; Skyline Design for custom, frit-patterned glass doors; Capitol Doors for auto sliding glass doors; NGI for bronze mash laminated glass; and Arcadia for aluminum storefront.
I look forward next to go there to see a show, and eager to check out how our work looks when surrounded by a live music or sports event!