Hawks’ grand (re)opening of arena is set for Saturday
The Hawks will show off their renovated and renamed arena to the public for the first time with an open-house event Saturday.
State Farm Arena, formerly known as Philips Arena, will open its doors after being closed since April for the last and largest phase of a $192.5 million makeover.
More than 750 workers have been on the job daily this week in a final sprint to get the building ready for its unveiling. As of Wednesday, walls were being painted, fixtures and furnishings were being installed, finishing touches were being applied to the center-hung video board and construction cleanup remained to be done in parts of the building.
“We’ll have some odds and ends as we go through the next couple of weeks – a punch list – that we’ll need to fix and address, as construction projects do,” said Brett Stefansson, the arena’s general manager. “But the building … will be ready for the public Saturday.”
Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said more than 24,000 people have signed up online for free tickets to the open house. The event will begin at noon Saturday and include a brief grand-opening ceremony at center court at 12:40 p.m. Attendees will be able to explore the building.
The renovation, which the Hawks have described as a roofline-to-baseline transformation of the 19-year-old arena, includes an array of new video boards, new premium-seating areas, new clubs and restaurants, a more open configuration, even a barber shop and Topgolf simulators.
The Hawks’ home opener is Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks.
> See Sunday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution for an exclusive in-depth look at the extreme makeover of the Hawks’ home. We’ll cover the changes throughout State Farm Arena and the reasons behind them in advance of the Hawks’ first games in the renovated building next week.
About the Author
Tim Tucker, a long-time AJC sports reporter, often writes about the business side of the games. He also had stints as the AJC's Braves beat writer, UGA beat writer, sports notes columnist and executive sports editor. He was deputy managing editor of America's first all-sports newspaper, The National Sports Daily.
