LEX18.com - Lexington, KY

Posted: Jul 31, 2010 5:38 PM

LOUISVILLE (AP) - Workers still have plenty to do on the $238 million KFC Yum Center arena before it opens in Louisville.
     
But a final media tour of the facility before it opens in about two months showed considerable progress, including plenty of upper level seats already installed and a large center-court scoreboard in place.
     
Elsewhere, workers continue to construct bars and meeting rooms. And The Courier-Journal reports the main floor's basketball court still is being manufactured and won't be installed until September.
     
M.A. Mortenson Co., the arena's construction manager, expects to turn the building to the Louisville Arena Authority and the Kentucky State Fair Board, which will manage it, on Oct. 10.
     
Construction paused briefly on Thursday for a final media tour of the new venue for University of Louisville men's and women's teams, which begin play there in November.
     
"They've done their homework," said Mike Grosso, a former Lousiville basketball player and longtime season ticket holder, who joined the tour. "There's nowhere in the country that any recruit is going to be able to walk out of here and think that there's a better facility."
     
Grosso played at Freedom Hall from 1968-70, an era in which that arena routinely hosted Final Fours and before the NCAA opted to take the last rounds of its showcase tournaments to domed football stadiums. "They took what we had at Freedom Hall and multiplied it by 100. It's just over the top," Grosso said.
     
The tour for 65 media members and about 35 others, including Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and arena project staff, coiled through the first and second levels of the arena, with stops at the loading dock, the main floor, the practice court, the Woodford Reserve Club overlooking the Ohio River, and the Kentucky Ale Taproom above the main floor and the lobby, with a sweeping vista of Main Street to the South.
     
Several public tours are planned for the fall, although the dates and times haven't yet been determined, said Vicki Glass, a fair board spokeswoman.
     
Arena authority chairman Jim Host singled out lessons arena officials learned from other venues across the country. The 1,400-square-foot lobby, for instance, was modeled after open space at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Louisville arena's practice floor is on the same level as the main event floor, a feature some other arenas lack and that the NCAA said would be a plus, Host said.
    
 The practice court is envisioned as a warm-up area for visiting teams and during tournaments.
    
 Moreover, after noticing that bars in some arenas don't have views of live action, planners ensured the taproom and other areas at the KFC Yum Center have clear views of the main floor.
     
The practice court also will serve as an overflow working space for media and can be used as a staging area for catering and food service, Host said.
    
 "Everything has been thought out as best we can," he said.
    
 The new arena will include some familiar touches. The second-level concourse will be home to the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame exhibit, which had been located at Freedom Hall. The exhibit will line the walls along the Second and Third street concourses and eventually include "iconic graphics" of Kentucky sports legends, Host said.
    
 The Eagles will open the building with a concert on Oct. 16. Louisville's My Morning Jacket, accompanied by the Louisville Youth Orchestra, will play there on Oct. 29 in a show to be opened by another local band, Wax Fang.
    
 Other shows scheduled include Justin Bieber in November and The Judds in December.
     
The Louisville women will play their first regular-season game against Tennessee on Nov. 12, followed by the men's opener against NCAA runner-up Butler on Nov. 16.
     
Other events scheduled include NCAA first- and second-round men's tournament basketball games in 2012 and the 2012 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship.