10 cool things about the rehab of Thomas & Mack
The new $375 million arena on the Strip that's set to open in April might be hogging the headlines, but good, ol' Thomas & Mack Center has been quietly undergoing a $72.5 million upgrade.
Thomas & Mack has been the workhorse of Las Vegas arenas for more than three decades, serving as the home for the UNLV basketball team, the recently concluded annual National Finals Rodeo and the NBA Summer League, which is held every July. The 18,000-seat venue is home to about 150 events a year, including the crucial final presidential debate scheduled for October 2016.
The Thomas & Mack modernization project addressed an assortment of issues, from building more bathrooms to adding hospitality space. Most of the work is done, with the remodeling work set to finish in 2016. The last major upgrade work was in 1999 — 16 years after it opened in 1983.
Here are the Top 10 cool things about the Thomas & Mack rehab job:
— The arena's main concourse is wider, with improved lighting and new flooring. The pedestrian traffic flow has improved, and concession-stand lines don't block the movement of fans as much. Even the signs along the concourse and above the concession stands are new.
— More than 100 bathroom stalls and toilets have been added. The electrical, plumbing and air conditioning systems have also been upgraded.
— Thomas & Mack received a 10,000-square-foot addition on the arena's west side. plus an outside deck. That hospitality and party room addition costs $13 million of the $72.5 million. It will be a versatile space that can host everything from corporate and National Finals Rodeo events to weddings and UNLV sports gatherings.
— Fans with physical disabilities can rejoice. A new elevator leads to an Americans with Disabilities Act balcony area, where there is room for 24 wheelchairs and 24 accompanying people. Overall, the arena tripled its ADA space, going from 26 spots to 98.
— Every seat in the place has been replaced. Yes, all 18,000 of them, complete with black trim and a "UNLV" at the end of each row.
— The Si Redd Room has been expanded to accommodate bigger parties and groups and now connects to the arena's lower bowl through a portal hallway. It functions like a giant bunker suite, where fans can eat, drink and socialize in a private room, then stroll through a hallway to their lower bowl seats without having to navigate the main concourse.
— Unlike many arenas, Thomas & Mack manages its own food operations and has installed a new better burger concession stand called, "The Big Slider." It features workers grilling one-pound hamburgers right in front of you.
— There's space to sell advertising and it's atop the roof of all places. With the arena roof being replaced and also lit, it could be an attractive spot to place a corporate name alongside UNLV's. That advertising would be visible to passengers on planes taking off from and landing at McCarran International Airport. Southwest Airlines, are you interested?
— Speaking of new advertising and generating revenues, there's a new overlook section that offers views of the Strip skyline. This area also could offer a subnaming rights opportunity to a company interested in putting its name and logo there. And with UNLV remodeling Thomas & Mack, the university would like to sell a naming-rights deal for the three-building sports complex of Thomas & Mack, Cox Pavilion and Mendenhall Center.
— A special area on the concourse will feature an arena namesakes tribute to the two Nevada bankers, E. Parry Thomas and Jerome D. Mack, who donated the money for the building's feasibility studies and land.
Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com. Find him on Twitter: @BicycleManSnel
