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Norman Oder, critic and chronicler of Barclays Center, reports that deep inside Empire State Development Corporation documentation is a notation that the arena roof may be going green. The roof currently features a huge Barclays logo.
The notation is found in the draft environmental impact statement that the state agency will unveil Friday. As Oder reports...
[T]he project sponsors are considering the construction and installation of a green roof on Barclays Center as a new sustainable feature of the Arena. If installed, it would consist of the construction of a secondary roof with a structural system to hold a green sedum tray system very similar to the sedum roof at the transit entrance in front of the Arena. It is expected to cover most of the roof and would consist of approximately 130,000 square feet of sedum, making it one of the largest green roofs in New York City. It is expected that installation of this Phase I component would commence in 2014.
Oder reports the cost of the roof is likely to be born by Bruce Ratner's new partner in the Atlantic Yards Project, Chinese investor Greenland Group. In addition to the environmental aspect of the improvement, the roof could help stanch the "leaking" of bass during certain concerts at the arena, for which Barclays Center has received a modest fine.
In the original Frank Gehry plan for the arena, the roof of the arena was to be open space with a running track circling the periphery.