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The ceremonial blue ribbon had already been cut and fireworks had filled the sky, but what’s a new home without the actual keys to the building? So let the record show that at 10:40 a.m. on October 1st, Orlando Magic President Alex Martins extended his right hand to happily greet City of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer before then handing over the keys to the dazzling new Amway Center.

With that ceremonial gesture completed, construction on the breathtaking Amway Center was finally complete, a grand vision by both the Magic and the City of Orlando was realized and people all throughout Central Florida took ownership of the most technologically advanced, fan-friendly building in North America.

``What an absolutely awesome day for our community and our Magic family,’’ Magic CEO Bob Vander Weide said to the more than 3,000 fans assembled at Friday’s Grand Opening. ``The word that comes to mind is `Wow!’ I’d like to thank Mayor Dyer, (Orange County) Mayor (Rich) Crotty and the city and county commissioners for the belief in a vision to get us here today.’’

The opening was the culmination of a decade’s worth of hard work by the Magic, the City of Orlando and Orange County leaders to build a state-of-the-art venue for the fans of the area. That sense of accomplishment was splattered across the faces of the leaders from the City and County and the Magic leaders. And when one fan, seated some 50 rows up, shouted down, ``Thank You Buddy,’’ Orlando’s mayor victoriously pumped his fist in the air.

You certainly have to be at the $380 million facility to savor it in all of its true glory. The square footage (875,000) dwarfs that of Amway Arena (367,000), which served as home to the Magic for 21 seasons. To build such a monstrous venue, 270 million pounds of concrete was poured and 9.4 million pounds of steel were used. And because the building is anticipated to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Certified status with the U.S. Green Building Council, it will save 800,000 gallons of water and $750,000 annually when compared to a building of similar size.  

The facility, which will seat 19,700 for some concerts and 18,500 for Magic games, has eight levels and five concourses. There are 60 suites, 1,400 club seats, 68 loge boxes (328 seats) and 17 hospitality areas. And the enormity of it doesn’t stop there with 37 restrooms, 18 elevators (four of which are towering in size) and a concession point of sale for every 125 spectators.

It’s the little touches that make this facility the best in the NBA on several levels. The 180-foot tower with a sky bar and sky terrace will become an Orlando skyline icon. The 31,000 square feet of arena floor will allow for the venue to host exhibitions, trade shows and banquets, not to mention NCAA tournaments, hockey, arena football league games and political conventions.

``I think it’s a wonderful building. I think it has something for everyone and the fans will be blown away,’’ Magic GM/President of Basketball Operations Otis Smith.  ``You walk around this building and say `Wow,’ it’s just unbelievable because there are just so many things in the building for every fan that walks in the door.

``There are so many things to do in the building,’’ Smith continued, ``that my concern is the fans won’t get to their seats until the second quarter. Other than that, I think the building is fine.’’

Martins, who oversaw the design and construction of Amway Center down to almost every detail, said there is also significance to the fact that the Magic moved their training operations to the downtown facility. Amway Center is also home to the Magic’s new practice courts, locker room, weight room and training center. The team had trained at RDV Sportsplex in Maitland for the past 12 years, but the move downtown was both a strategic and symbolic gesture.

``It was important to the mayor, it was important to a lot of our city commissioners that part of this process was to move the Magic basketball team downtown, to get that visibility of the Orlando Magic in downtown Orlando,’’ Martins said. ``So now (the Magic players) have one home. They go to work at the same place every day, whether they’re going to practice or playing a game. It’s a facility that the players can look to as one of the best, if not the best, in the NBA.’’

Sporting a résumé of over 100 sports/event center facilities across the nation, Hunt is ranked as the nation’s number one builder of sports facilities by Engineering News-Record.

Hunt is currently constructing Barclays Center Arena in Brooklyn, NY (future home of NBA’s Brooklyn Nets) and Marlins New Ballpark in Miami, FL (future home of MLB’s Florida Marlins). Recently completed projects include the LEED Gold certified Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, PA (home of NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins), Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN (home of NFL’s Indianapolis Colts), the LEED Silver certified Nationals Park in Washington, DC (home of MLB’s Washington Nationals), Kauffman Stadium Expansion and Renovation in Kansas City, MO (home of MLB’s Kansas City Royals) and University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ (home of NFL’s Arizona Cardinals).

Photo credit - Ben Tanner Photography