Big makeover at Pepsi Center

Rocky Mountain News

Published July 14, 2008 at 6:51 p.m.
Updated July 15, 2008 at 12:23 a.m.

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Photo by Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky

Workers remove a railing from the Pepsi Center stands. About 5,000 seats have been taken out to make room for the convention.

Photo by Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky

Bolts lie in the stands at the Pepsi Center, where 5,000 seats have been removed to make way for theDemocratic National Convention.

It's been only a week since the Democratic Party took control of the Pepsi Center, but the transition from sports arena into a convention hall is well under way.

The work - which, in essence, is a construction project - will get the building ready to host the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 25-28.

The Democratic National Convention Committee opened the doors on Monday so reporters and photographers could see the progress.

On the floor

The basketball hardwood and hockey ice are gone, leaving behind a bare concrete floor, which mostly will be covered by seating.

In the stands

Approximately 5,000 seats have been removed, including all of those in the lower bowl on the side of the arena where the hockey benches usually are situated. That area will be converted to a giant podium where the politicians will give speeches.

Two sections of seats behind the hockey penalty boxes also are gone so the area can be converted into the main camera platform.

Finally, a section of seats high in one corner of the arena was removed to make way for a platform that will allow television commentators to do their stand-ups while overlooking the convention hall.

Each seat was removed individually - requiring about 15 minutes of work - and then tagged and boxed so it can be bolted back into place after the convention ends.

Out front

The team store, where fans can buy jerseys, pennants and other memorabilia for the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Crush and Colorado Mammoth, has been cleared out to make way for a television studio.

In the air

Missing from the rafters are more than two dozen banners for the four sports teams that call the arena home.

* Colorado Avalanche

8 division championship banners - 1995-96 through 2002-2003

2 Stanley Cup banners - 1996 and 2001

2 Western Conference Champion banners - 1996 and 2001

2 President's Trophy banners for NHL's best regular season record - 1996-97 and 2000-2001

2 retired jerseys - Patrick Roy's No. 33 and Ray Bourque's No. 77

1 Canadian flag (the American flag remains and will through the convention).

* Denver Nuggets

5 retired jerseys - Byron Beck's No. 40, Alex English's No. 2, Dan Issel's No. 44, David Thompson's No. 33 and one commemorating former coach Doug Moe's 432 wins

5 Division Champion banners - 1977, 1978, 1985, 1988, 2006

1 American Basketball Association banner - commemorating the Western Division Championship in 1974-75 and the regular season championship in 1975-76.

* Colorado Mammoth

4 Division champion banners - 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007

1 Champion's Cup banner - 2006

1 retired jersey - Gary Gait's No. 22

* Colorado Crush

1 Arena Football League championship banner - 2005

Behind the scenes

The Colorado Avalanche locker room doesn't look much like its former self.

Workers took pictures from the walls, covered the carpeting with Masonite, wrapped the lockers in a protective cocoon of fabric, and divided the room in two. Ultimately, it will be an exact replica of the stage and podium - a place for the politicians to practice their speeches before facing thousands of people in the main arena.

Throughout the corridors in the lower part of the building, workers have erected steel stands for the estimated 3,300 miles of fiber-optic cables needed for the communications system. Miles of audio, video and electrical cables also will be strung.

And in an area normally used to store sports equipment, workers are building a data center where 20 computer servers and other equipment will form the communications nerve center for the convention.

Outside

Construction crews have begun work to erect a 62,500-square-foot tent that will be used to house members of the news media. In all, five media pavilions will be built, totaling 200,000 square feet.

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