Journey plays to a sold-out crowd at Kansas Star Arena, Aug. 24.
This upcoming year will be telling for the Kansas Star Arena. Although the building has been opened since September 2011, only a minimal number of events have been held, since the space served solely as a temporary casino until Dec. 2012.
“We’ve only held a limited number of events this past year, since we didn’t know how long the transformation from casino to arena would take,” said Tim Lanier, general manager of the arena and arena director of Mulvane, Kan.-based Boyd Gaming Corp., which operates the venue. “We didn’t want to book anything till we were far along in the project.”
The arena’s opening date was originally slated for last July, but was moved up to June 29.
The building’s use as a temporary casino was due to a gaming control mandate that required the casino be operational within one year of being licensed. This required a staged approach for the project, which also includes a 150-room hotel, which will soon double in size, and five restaurants.
“With the gaming license requirement, we knew we couldn’t build a casino [within the time frame necessary] so we needed to build something utilitarian in nature,” said Rob Holfriter, associate of Las Vegas-based YWS, which designed the facility. “Boyd Gaming wanted to give patrons a suggestion of what’s to come by allocating temporary space in the arena for the casino.”
Retrofitting the arena to serve as a temporary casino was thought to be more cost-effective and efficient than utilizing tent space.
Because the original 45,000-square-foot arena floor design could not accommodate the casino, only the upper four seating tiers could be built in the first phase. Four more permanent seating tiers, four concrete steps and six removable rows were created after the casino vacated the building.
The arena casino also included temporary restaurants and cocktail bars that were then moved into the permanent casino when it was completed. The arena’s main entrance vestibule served as the casino’s dining area.
Office space was created on the second floor concourse, while underneath served as executive offices that were later transformed into animal pens and storage spaces for the arena.
Mechanical rooms beneath the floor on the opposite side of the arena were expanded prior to the venue’s reopening.
“The facility was built with the intention that it would be an arena, and we had the structural systems in for suspending lighting and rigging above the proposed stage area,” Holfriter said. “While the space served as a casino, we created a suspended grid ceiling system using rodeo fencing panels over the gaming tables.”
Electrical systems were put in to accommodate the arena’s future needs prior to the casino occupying the space. This included large amounts of conduit as well as electrical boxes in the floor to allow the space to be used as a convention facility.
Transforming the space back to its original form included the removal of glass doors, the installation of overhead doors and converting office space into a storage area. A club section was turned into green rooms and the casino’s concourse office space was transformed back into a walkway area. House lighting and sound were augmented during the period when the facility was being transformed from a casino to an arena. Restrooms were also added.
The new horseshoe-shaped arena was originally built as an equestrian center but has since been designated as a multiuse space for concerts, family shows, rodeos and sporting events. It now includes 1,800 seats on retractable risers and 4,000 fixed seats. The arena floor can accommodate another 2,500 seats. There also are four suites and a club level.
Since the arena opened in June, band Daughtry performed in July and Journey played to a sold-out crowd in August. On Oct. 27, Top Vietnamese Artists, Live in Concert, will perform. Comedienne/actor Rodney Carrington has a show scheduled for Nov. 8 and on Dec. 13, Celtic Woman Home for Christmas: The Symphony Tour will perform.
“Next year is our year to come out,” Lanier said.
Interviewed for this article: Rob Holfriter, (702) 243-5670; Tim Lanier, (316) 719-5000
