Mayor David Holt and Architect David Manica Unveil Preliminary Conceptual Design of OKC New Arena

Mayor David Holt and Architect David Manica Unveil Preliminary Conceptual Design of OKC New Arena

Now, let me shift our gaze to another, and that is our long-term future with Major League Professional sports and the new arena that makes that future possible. In December of 2023, 71% of voters approved the funding to construct a new nearly 1 billion dollar arena, which gave us the ability to secure a long-term commitment from the Thunder and the NBA. For the 18 months following that vote, uh, that agreement was negotiated. And in the middle of this whirlwind of the last month, literally the morning after game five of the NBA finals, the city council approved the agreement. And since then, it has been signed by Klay Bennett and myself. And so, the Thunder are now committed in writing to play in our new arena for at least 25 years after it opens in 2028, officially extending our window as a big league city to at least 203. The primary purpose of this arena initiative was to secure a future with an NBA team that we could not secure in our current arena. Our current arena is too small by square footage, lacks the amenities of a modern and more expensive arena, and it is growing too old. This new arena will address all of those issues, and that is why we were able to m attain a commitment that would otherwise elude a market our size. This investment in ourselves also ensures we can stay competitive in the battle for top concerts. But this project also has secondary benefit. This is our city’s fourth downtown arena, but it is our first true NBA arena designed for basketball. It will be a much better experience for fans. It is also the first time we as a city have embarked upon a sports venue project with a budget befitting a big league city. With this budget, we have the ability to do something special that raises the aesthetic bar for the city and makes an architectural statement. And today we’re here to make that statement. As you know, we did not attempt to design anything before the vote. We didn’t have the funding to do that. None of us liked the idea of a fake placeholder design. And we wanted this design process to be deliberate and thoughtful. And so, as a result, you have never previously seen any actual concept for this project. That changes today. Architects around the world recognized the opportunity that this project presented and so we attracted some of the highest profile names in the arena design business. A rigorous and competitive process to choose the architect brought us David Manaka, one of the most prominent visionaries in his field with an impressive track record. You should Google later. Last October, David was named design architect and was joined by TVS as the architect of record. A few months later, construction companies Flintco and Mortonson were brought in as the construction management team, allowing us to have someone at the table in the design process who fully understands practicality and costs, which gives us more confidence that our design can be constructed and within the budget that we have. Early on, David Manica and his team visited with members of the city council and with community leaders. Then, this group I have described along with other consultants has been meeting regularly for the last eight months. Klay Bennett, Craig Freeman, and myself, as well as others from the Thunder and the City have been at every meeting where important decisions were made. Everyone in the room from Oklahoma City has fully understood the magnitude of this moment. This arena has every opportunity to visually define our city for many decades to come. And so, to tell you more about his vision and his process, I’m thrilled to bring to the stage the design architect for our new arena. Please welcome David Manica. [Applause] Good job. The floor is yours. Thank you, Mayor Holt, for that generous introduction and thank you to the for the invitation to be here with you on this stage uh in this historic day. Man, you can see the suspense in the air. I love it. Um, I’m both honored and humbled to be here uh this afternoon to present the vision of your new arena. But before we unveil the concept, I want to take a moment to really tell you where it came from and why it looks the way it does, what it means. The City and the Thunder held interviews with multiple qualified architects late last summer. And like architects usually do, all of them showed up to the interview with their shiny, slick new ideas of what the new arena could look like, except for me. I showed up with no designs, no preconceptions, and no grand ideas that I hoped to convince the interviewers to instantly fall in love with. That is very unusual for an architect to do in these kinds of interviews, and it was frankly a pretty risky and terrifying approach. But what I did come with was sincerity in my heart, an understanding of what this building will mean to this city, and a willingness to listen. Listen first and then dream. That is the approach I believed would yield the most genuine and lasting result. A day or two after the interviews concluded, I took the call that I’d been selected as the designer of what will be the next most important building in this growing city. And I was thrilled. Not just because I’d won. It wasn’t about winning. I was thrilled for the opportunity to get to do something really special here. You know, I’ve dedicated my entire 30 plus year career to the design of these kinds of sport and entertainment venues around the world. And the reason I love my job so much is because I’m really blessed to get to design buildings like this that people absolutely love to go to. I mean, really, try to think of another building that people love to go to more than their hometown arena to watch their home team win. These arenas mean so much to a community, and I’m really dedicated and driven by understanding that this arena will be a uniquely meaningful project in the context of your city’s story. So, thank you again to the city, the Thunder, especially Mayor Holt and Clay Bennett, and my incredible team as a steward uh of the vision of your new arena. And I just want to take a quick moment actually to um have you help me sort of uh congratulate and and my gratitude for my team. Could you guys stand up for a second? Thank you. Thank you guys. And for the team that’s still uh in the studio working on your project right now watching through streaming. These are the real rock stars really. And I just wanted to say thank you to you guys. Thank you. Anyway, a week or so after that calla um we kicked off the design of this project with what we called the visioning session. And for about two hours, me and my team simply asked the mayor, the city, and the thunder for their impressions of what this arena want wanted to be. You know, what it must be, what would it symbolize, what were its aspirations, how would it be measured for success um by each of them and the people of OKC. You know, we ask questions like, if this arena were to be a reflection of this community, what would that look like? What are the defining values and characteristics of this city and its people? And after each question, we listened really carefully and we heard words like unity, community, resiliency, authenticity, kindness, and generosity. Words like that kept coming up. And words like equality, diversity, integrity, hope, and steadfastness, they kept coming up. And for the arena itself, aspirations of timelessness, beauty, wonder, and sophistication, those words kept coming up. And one of the moments in that visioning session that struck me somewhere really deep inside, and a moment I will never forget, was actually Klay Bennett’s comment to me directly in that room full of people. He said, “David, we’re not looking to design the next great arena of this generation. We’re designing the first great arena of the next generation.” No pressure there, by the way, at all. Um, but what I immediately understood was what he meant. This building had to be all of these things together. Simple and yet sophisticated, completely unique, but also familiar and timeless, beautiful, but also highly functional. and above all spectacular enough to bring the eyes of the world to OKC again. And for OKC and all of its people to be proud of what they have done here together. And the idea that this arena would be one of one was born on that day. And so as you watch this video, I hope you can see and really feel what came out of that listening. What came out of those dreams that we shared together on the first days of this project and what has evolved through the good work and collaboration of every person from every day since we started our listening to what this project really wanted to be. I hope you’ll see that this design carries that sense of equality and balance in its circular shape. I hope you’ll see it offers transparency and authenticity through its transparent facade from every angle. It is sophisticated and timeless in its spirit. I hope you can sense how this building will become a vessel for memories and the shared experiences for generations to come. But more than anything else, I want you to notice that in this design, unlike any other in the world, the community will come together as one. The crowd is united as one around the court and all the concourses share the same singular volume of space. No matter where you are in the building, everybody’s in it together. And for me, that is what I have come to know and understand that Oklahoma City is all about. We are in this together. Thank you, David. With no further ado, with no further ado, Oklahoma City, please meet your new arena. [Music] [Music] I’m the king on my own land. Facing tempers of dust, I’ll fight it till the end. Creatures of my dreams raise up and dance with me. [Music] Now, forever. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat [Music] up [Music] here. Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Music] Heat. Hey, street. [Applause] Yeah. Well, talk about dreaming big. I know you’re going to want to watch that again and again, and you can at okcnewarren.com. In the meantime, David, you have given our city an amazing gift. This design is truly one of one and it will come to define Oklahoma City. Let’s show our gratitude to David Manica and his team. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] an NBA championship, a long-term agreement with the Thunder, a 2.7 billion dollar commitment to our core infrastructure, street ratings that are going up, and homelessness and crime rates that are going down, the promise of 16 new maps for projects, the strongest economy and our city’s h history, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and our beautiful new arena. Mountains we have conquered, mountains we will climb. This mission focused city is America’s most dynamic and this is our time. Thank you for the honor of serving as your mayor as we ascend these peaks together. Now get out of here and go watch that video again. Thank you.

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