Latest news with #DavidManica
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Emotionally overwhelming': Architect of new OKC arena shares inspiration, addresses feedback
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – News 4 caught up with the owner of the architectural company chosen by Oklahoma City to design a new, nearly $1 billion arena; and the future home of the Oklahoma City Thunder. A first look at the designs was shown off in front of a sold-out crowd during Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt's State of the City address on Wednesday. OKC Mayor David Holt unveils new arena renderings during his State of the City address The Oklahoma City City Council hired MANICA Architecture for the project in October 2024. The Kansas City-based company specializes in sports and entertainment videos. It's designed with the NBA and NFL, including the Chase Center, Allegiant Stadium, and the new Nissan Stadium. News 4 interviewed David Manica, owner of the company, after Wednesday's announcement to share more about the project. Q: Talk about this day finally coming to fruition? David Manica: Emotionally overwhelming. Absolutely. I'd seen that video 100 times over many months as it came together, and for me, I never got tired of watching it. I always, you know, it always stirred something in me, but to watch it in that room with 1,500 people who were seeing it for the first time was absolutely overwhelming. So, I had to get back up on stage and try not to tear up at the end. Q: What does Oklahoma City's story mean to you, and how important was that to craft into the design? David Manica: Well, it means everything to me, and it's what I built…my team and I built the whole concept of the project around is this sense of community, unity, and togetherness. I was asked in a few other interviews, you know, what sets, what makes this project Oklahoma City, what makes it Oklahoma, and for me it's all about the people.' Q: You mentioned during your presentation you got feedback locally before you even came up with initial designs. How important and difficult was it to step back and not rush into something preliminarily? David Manica: It took a lot of patience and it took a lot of courage to come here and not have anything to try to sell and instead just sell our ability to listen…I think it made all the difference in the world. I would never have come up with this idea in a vacuum. Q: Do you have a good idea of how many iterations you came up with for this specific project? David Manica: You know, we had four or five different versions of the same idea, and we began to refine it over time…We started with the circle, and then we began to think about concourses with 360-degree views, and that led us to the glass. Q: What would you say stands out as the most striking characteristics of this project that set it apart from the Paycom Center? David Manica: I think it's the glass façade and the idea that you look through the building. So that has to do with the idea of authenticity and integrity and all these things that I think are represented in the people and the spirit in the community of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma people. Q: Did the Oklahoma City Thunder's championship win raise the stakes and pressure to get the design right? David Manica: No, it didn't. I was, of course, hugely relieved and very happy, selfishly, that I'd walked into this unveiling with the Champions…This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me to get to unveil a project in this way to a community like this, for someone that just won a championship. Q: Some Oklahomans have expressed concerns about the glass, given our weather patterns. What would you say to alleviate those? David Manica: The glass façade's actually a really smart way to protect against all of those things and all the weather here in Oklahoma. I'll go through them one by one. So, first of all, the glass will have bird protection on it. So, the little dots that make sure the birds don't run into the building. So, we'll have that. We'll also have fritting and tinting to make sure that the glass is protecting the inside of the building from the hot sun in the summer times. And then it is both insulated and laminated, which will further from insulation and the heat of the summer and the cold in the winter, as well as the weather. Q: There's a lot of woodwork in this design, can you speak to that? David Manica: No one else has asked me that question. So this idea that, you look through the façade and you look to what's inside, we call that wood, all that the wood bowl, it kind of looks like a wood bowl. It is the vessel. It's the vessel for everything that happens inside of it, and so that vessel is intentionally designed out of a wood product. Q: What's being done to ensure these designs are cost-efficient? David Manica: I mean, that was a, that was an absolute hard line in the beginning. We have been careful to manage the size of the project and the decisions that we make each step of the way with the details. The glass façade is a great example. It actually saved us a lot of money to do a building that way. The best and most helpful thing that we're doing is, we have the contractors involved with this right now. So, as we make decisions, we're working with them in lockstep to make sure that we're making decisions that are in the best interests of the project, both from a fan experience and a results standpoint, but also from a cost standpoint. The arena is expected to be completed in 2028. Paycom and the Oklahoma City Thunder mutually announced Monday that Paycom will not pursue naming rights of the new arena. Designs shared on Wednesday, Manica said, are conceptual and do not include the final plans. A frequently asked questions page has been set up on a new website dedicated to the project. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
USA Today
5 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
New OKC Thunder arena to downsize in capacity from Paycom Center
As the multi-year project took another step in the right direction, more details were discovered about the Oklahoma City Thunder's future home. The 2025 State of the City address was headlined by the unveiling of renderings of OKC's new downtown arena. OKC Mayor David Holt and Architect David Manica presented the first look of OKC's new arena. It's set to open in 2028 with a construction cost of $900 million. Several photos and videos demonstrated the interior and exterior of the building. Afterward, Holt revealed a ballpark estimate of the new arena's capacity. He said it will likely be in the 17,000 range, a downgrade from Paycom Center's 18,203 number. The arena will be larger, though, by around 200,000 square feet. It will be one of the smaller capacity sizes among NBA arenas. Only the Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies, Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets, Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans and Atlanta Hawks have capacity rates of less than 18,000 seats. It's a strategic move as it will give the Thunder's new homecourt a more intimate feel with seats closer to the floor. While the reaction to the lower capacity was mixed, the rest of the presentation was universally beloved by Thunder fans. The photos and videos excited the fanbase as OKC gets a more state-of-the-art arena with the intention of it being built for an NBA team. Paycom Center will remain the Thunder's NBA arena for three seasons. The 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons will be the arena's last years. The new OKC arena will have a different name as Paycom will retire its naming rights once the current arena is shut down. The Thunder have played at Paycom Center since their relocation from Seattle in 2008. The arena opened in 2002 and is one of the smaller NBA homes. It was formerly known as the Chesapeake Energy Arena before being rebranded as Paycom Center in 2021. Once the new OKC arena opens, the Thunder will sign a 25-year lease that will keep the NBA franchise there through at least 2053. A new home is the type of long-term security needed to ensure the Thunder remain in Oklahoma City. Fresh off an NBA championship, the Thunder should remain a title contender throughout Paycom Center's final years and when the new home opens. When the new OKC arena opens, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren will still be under contract.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
A 360-degree skyline view: Arena designs reveal a glass encased downtown jewel
The future home for the Oklahoma City Thunder — a $1 billion arena approved in December 2023 by voters — will feature extensive landscaping to blend in with the Myriad Botanical Gardens and a 360-degree glass curtain wall that will offer visitors sweeping panoramic skyline views from all interior concourses. Conceptual renderings displayed Wednesday by architect David Manica at the 2025 State of the City address were unveiled to a sold-out crowd gathered at the convention center that got its first glimpse of a landmark that will dramatically alter the downtown skyline. Unlike the current Paycom Center, opened in 2002 without an anchor tenant, the new arena is designed to be an NBA venue with upper seating sections to be located closer to the floor action. The renderings shown at the July 16 State of the City show the arena's west-facing main entrance, aligned with the Myriad Gardens, also will include a long-envisioned Thunder Alley that will provide a fan activation zone designed within the arena's footprint. An elevated main entrance, situated on a grand podium, creates an inspiring sense of arrival and opens up to the main concourse, fostering a welcoming atmosphere. The interior concept prioritizes basketball, with optimized sight lines and a seating design that fosters an energetic, loud and intimate experience. Demolition is underway at the future arena site, which for 50 years was the city's convention center and last home to Prairie Surf Studios. The future arena site, a super-block between E.K. Gaylord Boulevard and Sheridan, Reno and Robinson avenues, is expected to be cleared later this year with construction set to start in 2026. An opening for the new arena is scheduled for the start of the Oklahoma City Thunder's 2028-29 season. Design work is being done by Kansas-based Manica Architecture and Atlanta-based TVS, the same team that drew up plans for San Francisco's Chase Center and Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium. Oklahoma contractor Flintco, which built Oklahoma City's new convention center, Devon Tower and the state Capitol dome, is teamed up on the arena project with Mortenson Construction, a Minneapolis contractor that built two of the country's three newest NBA arenas. This is a developing story. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC new arena design unveiled during State of the City: See the plans Solve the daily Crossword
USA Today
6 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Thunder owner Clay Bennett releases statement after new OKC arena renderings released
The new home of the Oklahoma City Thunder took the next step on Wednesday. Nearly two years after being voted in, the State of the City address concluded with the first renderings of downtown OKC's new arena that'll open in three years. OKC Mayor David Holt and Architect David Manica presented the first renderings of OKC's new arena, which is set to open in 2028. The construction cost is $900 million. Several photos and videos demonstrated the interior and exterior of the building. Paycom Center will remain the Thunder's NBA arena for three seasons. The 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons will be the arena's last years. The new OKC arena will have a different name as Paycom will retire its naming rights once the current arena is shut down. The Thunder have played at Paycom Center since their relocation from Seattle in 2008. The arena opened in 2002 and is one of the smaller NBA homes. It was formerly known as the Chesapeake Energy Arena before being rebranded as Paycom Center in 2021. Once the new OKC arena opens, the Thunder will sign a lease that will keep the NBA franchise there through 2053. A new home is the type of long-term security needed to ensure the Thunder remain in Oklahoma City. Thunder owner Clay Bennett released a statement on the groundbreaking next step. The new OKC arena will be built next to Paycom Center over the next three years. Bennett helped move the NBA franchise to OKC. He serves as the chairman of the Professional Basketball Club, LLC. 'The journey to build a unique and transformative downtown landmark has taken a significant step forward with the unveiling of this preliminary conceptual design,' Bennett wrote in a statement. 'We are incredibly grateful to Mayor Holt for his leadership and to David Manica and his team who have done a remarkable job capturing our vision for an arena that elevates the spirit of competition, celebrates the values of our community, and strengthens Oklahoma City's local and global identity.' Such an achievement is worth hearing from Bennett, who usually stays behind the scenes. He's allowed Thunder GM Sam Presti to build up a contender and has enjoyed the fruits of their work with an NBA championship. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren all signed long-term extensions this offseason to keep them in OKC when the new arena opens.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
OKC reveals design for its $1 billion new NBA arena: Here's how social media reacted
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, along with the architect behind designing the city's new $1 billion arena, unveiled conceptual images depicting a glass-encased future home for the OKC Thunder. The design of the new arena was revealed Wednesday, July 16, by architect David Manica during the 2025 State of the City address. The sold-out event was held at the Oklahoma City Convention Center, just two blocks from the site where the arena will be built. The renderings shown at the State of the City show the arena's west-facing main entrance, aligned with the Myriad Gardens, will also include a long-envisioned Thunder Alley that will provide a fan activation zone designed within the arena's footprint. See the design for the new Oklahoma City NBA arena How social media reacted to OKC's new arena designs Contributing: Steve Lackmeyer This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC reveals $1 billion arena design: How social media is reacting
