What's Next at Barclays?

The latest Barclays Center construction updates show three milestones are expected this month: the erection of steel for the arena roof deck and the installation of "vertical transportation" systems, aka elevators, at the site as well as the arrival of the first of thousands of weathered steel panels that will make up the arena's distinctive facade. The panels are being "aged" in the contractor's Indiana plant.

The two key documents are a monthly consultants' report to the arena bond holders and the semi-monthly construction update released by the Empire State Development Corp., the state agency partnering with Bruce Ratner and Mikhail Prokhorov on the arena. Both were released within the last few weeks.

In fact, the reports show a quickening pace of construction this summer. Interior walls should start going up in early June; the weathered steel panels in late July then roof sections in early September. Looking farther ahead, the first seats should arrive around Thanksgiving, and permanent power up and running a week later.  There's even a target date for the scoreboard installation: February 22, 2012. less than nine months away.

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