Intrust Bank Arena Grand Opening

[wsushox1]

Anyone go? If so what did you guys think of it?

[ShockerFever]

Looked good. I'm a bit busy right now, but will give a more detailed breakdown a little later tonight.

[kawwsu77]

I thought it is very fan friendly. I walked up to the top row and the view and the seats were not that bad. The suites and boxes were very first rate which I expected. I really liked the mix of the brick near Old Town and the more modern to the south.

I love the ribbon board around the arena. I love how they used it to announce upcoming shows. The scoreboard is bigger than Koch's and I like the two screens.

Having Antoine Carr and Mike Pelfrey there at the ceremoney was a plus.

Overall it is a nice arena that will serve Wichita for many years.

[wsushox1]

I thought it is very fan friendly. I walked up to the top row and the view and the seats were not that bad. The suites and boxes were very first rate which I expected. I really liked the mix of the brick near Old Town and the more modern to the south.

I love the ribbon board around the arena. I love how they used it to announce upcoming shows. The scoreboard is bigger than Koch's and I like the two screens.

Having Antoine Carr and Mike Pelfrey there at the ceremoney was a plus.

Overall it is a nice arena that will serve Wichita for many years.

You post any photos to your Flickr?

[kawwsu77]

I will when I have some more time.

[wsushox1]

I will when I have some more time.

Sweet. I will look forward to it lol.

[pogo]

Went down to view it with a friend. I thought as a whole it was very nice. If I were to compare it to some of the venues I have visited it would rate at the top of the list. I would have preferred maybe a little different flow for getting crowds out of the arena. The concourses seemed a little narrow to me. The amenities were superior to what I have seen, even at the Spring Center. The seats were comfortable and lines of sight were excellent except for at the very top on the east emd with the view of the scoreboard being obscured. I would agree with a previous poster in that it will serve Wichita very nicely now and into the future.

[MTXE]

I had high expectations for this arena, unfortunately I walked away unsatisfied. Overall the facility seems small and very non-symmetrical.

I went and sat down at one end of the rink at the very top row and was treated to a straight on view of all the "stuff" that is supposed to be neatly tucked away in the ceiling of a normal arena. The architectural genius, that was so evident in the finished product, has the upper row nearly IN the ceiling. I am not exaggerating, you cannot fully see the far end of the rink from the top row due to obstructions and the scoreboard is COMPLETELY blocked. It is THE most hokey thing I have ever seen in my entire life. All this for 200,000,000 dollars?

The seats... the seats are so cramped that a man 6'1" or taller will have his knees sticking into the back of the head of the guy in front of him. There is more leg room at Koch Arena. Forget about it if you are portly.

The lowest level of the concourse (on both the north and south entrances) was exactly the same temperature as outside. In fact, when I was riding the escalator - and nearly all the way to the second level - I could still see my breath. Is the lower level supposed to be heated?

And last but certainly not least, when I was ready to leave via the north (Old Town) exit, I stood staring at ONE escalator that only went up. I was totally confused. Eventually I walked further down the hallway (away from the apparent exit) and noticed a door that led to what presumably was the fire escape. Yes, you must take a lonely, unfinished set of stairs to leave the arena on the north side. It will be an unbelievable traffic jam after a concert. There simply are not enough doors to get people in or out of the arena comfortably. An architectural airball if I have EVER seen one.

There are some cool ideas like the restaurant with a view of the game but they are completely inappropriate for an arena of 15,000. It will be so unbelievably packed with even a modest crowd, that it will be unusable. Concession options are a vast improvement over what was offered at the Coliseum, but you will pay dearly for the variety.

In my opinion, the first thing an arena design team should do is ask themselves, "What is the primary goal of the structure we are about to design?". There answer would be, "To provide the patrons of this venue a clear, comfortable, and unobstructed view of all hosted events without foregoing ease of mobility in and around the facility". They would have failed that mission statement miserably.

Instead, I think they approached the design with the idea that they wanted to make it "fancy" and something "we could all be proud of". Once they figured out how to fit 22 suites and 40 loge boxes into their "master plan", they got around to the "unimportant" things like SIGHT-LINES, DOORS, and COMFORTABLE SEATS. Oh well, at least the suites have stainless steel-doored refrigerators. Unbelievable lack of common sense shown in the design.

Do you know what I would have done if I were the design committee for the IBA? I would have compiled a list of the top 40 finest arenas across the world, picked the one that fit our budget, and copied it from the toilets to the tapestries. I would have duplicated a proven success story, designed by a team assembled from a much larger community with much greater intellectual resources. Instead we got an undersized, uncomfortable (for the majority of patrons) arena with a couple luxury addons. I would compare our arena to a 1983 Cadillac worth about 1,200 dollars equipped with 5,000 dollar 22 inch rims. Oh.. and they spinin' they spinin'!!!!

*edited to change Old Town exit from south to north -thanks AG1219*

[vancedave56]

You walked past 2 elevators between the escalator and stairs on the south side (I took the stairs anyway).

:whistle:

[MTXE]

You walked past 2 elevators between the escalator and stairs on the south side (I took the stairs anyway).

:whistle:

Oh yeah, the elevators. Thanks for reminding me. :) Twice I used the elevators, and twice I waited about five minutes for the doors to open. I was at the arena early so the crowd was minimal. I'm sure the elevators can be tweaked a bit but they were the slowest I think I have ever encountered.

By the way, two slow, 8-10 person elevators will not alleviate the traffic jam that will most likely develop on the north side of the arena after an event is over. I'm hoping that I missed some exits on the south side. If not, a person would definitely be well-served to carry with them a small parachute or repelling gear in case of an emergency evacuation. I was leaning over the railing with visions of people jumping from the World Trade Center during the fires.

*edit north side*

[jcdshocker]

Why am I not surprised by your comments.

You cannot find anything positive to say about anything. It is almost like you like the attention and responses you are bound to get from your assinine write up.

Please go away MTXE. Not the Mental Toughness Extra Effort slogan but the poster.

[wsushox1]

You walked past 2 elevators between the escalator and stairs on the south side (I took the stairs anyway).

:whistle:

Oh yeah, the elevators. Thanks for reminding me. :) Twice I used the elevators, and twice I waited about five minutes for the doors to open. I was at the arena early so the crowd was minimal. I'm sure the elevators can be tweaked a bit but they were the slowest I think I have ever encountered.

By the way, two slow, 8-10 person elevators will not alleviate the traffic jam that will most likely develop on the south side of the arena after an event is over. I'm hoping that I missed some exits on the south side. If not, a person would definitely be well-served to carry with them a small parachute or repelling gear in case of an emergency evacuation. I was leaning over the railing with visions of people jumping from the World Trade Center during the fires.

Hate to be a Debbie Downer but the Escalators, I am almost positive, will be going DOWN at the end of events not up like they will be at the beginning. I read it somewhere in the Arena Operations.

[MTXE]

You walked past 2 elevators between the escalator and stairs on the south side (I took the stairs anyway).

:whistle:

Oh yeah, the elevators. Thanks for reminding me. :) Twice I used the elevators, and twice I waited about five minutes for the doors to open. I was at the arena early so the crowd was minimal. I'm sure the elevators can be tweaked a bit but they were the slowest I think I have ever encountered.

By the way, two slow, 8-10 person elevators will not alleviate the traffic jam that will most likely develop on the south side of the arena after an event is over. I'm hoping that I missed some exits on the south side. If not, a person would definitely be well-served to carry with them a small parachute or repelling gear in case of an emergency evacuation. I was leaning over the railing with visions of people jumping from the World Trade Center during the fires.

Hate to be a Debbie Downer but the Escalators, I am almost positive, will be going DOWN at the end of events not up like they will be at the beginning. I read it somewhere in the Arena Operations.

I just read that on Kansas.com. I am very glad to hear that. I've never had the pleasure of being an escalator engineer. I didn't think you could just hit reverse on those things. All escalators going down after an event would be a definite improvement on clearing the upper floors. I wonder if they have to all be manually switched though. It would be smart to have it change remotely. Otherwise it will be forgotten at times and people will be fuming.

[MTXE]

Here is a disturbing photo I took of what it feels like to be in the upper bowl (and I am sitting down):

[wsushox1]

I just read that on Kansas.com. I am very glad to hear that. I've never had the pleasure of being an escalator engineer. I didn't think you could just hit reverse on those things. All escalators going down after an event would be a definite improvement on clearing the upper floors. I wonder if they have to all be manually switched though. It would be smart to have it change remotely. Otherwise it will be forgotten at times and people will be fuming.

Yes, don't worry about it. I am pretty sure they are switchable remotely, maybe not though. If not I am sure it is one of the HIGHEST priorities before an event gets out.