It’s So Plush, ‘They’re Stylin’ In Here’

They’ll never call this a barn.

Before Spokane Arena designers put their ideas on paper, they questioned sports facility experts, hockey club owners, high school basketball coaches and rock band roadies about what extras they’d like to see in the new building.

Although many of the amenities are more practical than expensive, they give the arena what the old Coliseum, or Boone Street Barn, lacked: style.

“They’re stylin’ in here,” says a beaming Amy Brown, assistant arena general manager.

If Robin Leach, British reporter to the stars, were a sports or entertainment fan, he’d be right at home here.

Leach’s tour would begin in the private parking lot on the arena’s west side - two acres of asphalt, enough for a circus with 24 tractor-trailer rigs. It includes power hookups for TV satellite trucks covering events.

Next stop: the back door, or doors. A pair of 20-foot-by-20-foot entrances allow two tractor-trailer trucks to drive onto the arena floor at once. A few feet north are five drive-up loading docks for concessions vendors.

Just inside, behind the stage, is a cavernous marshalling area where bucking broncos, agile elephants and elegant ice skaters will gather before entering the spotlight.

Electrical lines snaking through the arena bowels have enough juice to illuminate a small town.

“Power is always an issue,” says tour guide Brown. “We’ve got more power than anyone could ever need.”

In the Arena basemen, circling both sides of the floor are seven dressing rooms for sports team and one for referees. The Spokane Chiefs hockey club has its own complex: coaches office, dressing room, steam room, weight room.

Tucked in one corner is a mammoth kitchen where food will be prepared before taken by elevator to the concession areas. Employees have their own dressing room and uniform laundry.

When the stars visit Spokane, they’ll have a choice of three dressing rooms and a lounge called the green room. All feature plush carpet, private toilets and showers, and finished furniture.

Rising above the arena floor, theoretically built to withstand 15 billion pounds of weight, is a $1.2 million scoreboard that measures 53 feet by 20 feet and a 15-foot-by-20-foot video wall. Spectators will get instant replay inside the Arena, while TV monitors hanging throughout the concourse will televise events live.

The ice floor is 15 feet longer than the old Coliseum’s and will be surrounded by National Hockey League-quality glass. The wooden floor placed over the ice can host two basketball games simultaneously, or four volleyball matches - each with its own scoreboard.

A 60-foot-by-40-foot stage adjusts to three heights. Performances for intimate crowds can be personalized by cordoning off the arena with curtains and shrinking it to half size or a third. Ten spotlights will beam from the ceiling’s rigging.

The rigging is accessible by elevators and a catwalk and is strong enough to hang 150,000 pounds of speakers and other equipment, even when snow is on the roof.

The acoustics are the finest that science has developed.

Spectators also will receive the red-carpet treatment, starting at the ticket window - actually 10 ticket windows.

Nearby, customer service representatives will roam the wide concourse in search of visitors who appear lost. An automatic teller machine will dispense cash to harried customers who left home without it.

The concourse also features a view of downtown and the Spokane River.

Two food courts and four concession stands will offer a variety of foods and drinks. A dozen restrooms, including four private ones for parents with small children, are a short walk away.

Inside and out are a six-piece sculpture and other works of art. The Inland Northwest Hall of Fame lines one concourse wall. A grand staircase flows away from the river.

Smokers have their own porch.

Once in their seats, spectators will have unobstructed sight lines to every part of the floor. Up above, sportswriters will perch in a state-of-the-art press box, while the more well-heeled will dine and drink in a dozen suites that sold for $17,500 to $25,000 a year - for a minimum of five years. All in all, project builders say Spokane, a small market town, got a big league building.

It’s amazing what $62.2 million will buy.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: “Why does the scoreboard look different?”