Usually, when a roof goes up, that's a great sign for a building's progress. But at the HSS Training Center site in Industry City, the roof coming down --a 100-year-old roof, as a matter of fact-- that's the big deal.
When the Nets brass -- led by Irina Pavlova -- their consultants and architects took a look at the top floor of Building 19 in Industry City, they realized that 12-foot high ceilings wouldn't work for the practice courts. They'd have to create a new space, a 34-foot high space, enough to contain even the highest arching jump shot or the most errant pass. And at the same time, they wanted to preserve and expand the awesome view of New York Bay, Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan through 16-foot high windows.
So the plan was to first build the frame for the new high ceiling above the old roof of the building, install infrastructure like lighting, HVAC and yes, retractable baskets. Then and only then would they take down the old concrete roof slab to give the practice courts their needed height. Everyone knew that would be a big milestone in the construction process.
Last week, it happened. Jack hammers broke through the slab from, taking out what was the eighth and top floor roof. With the slab --the old roof-- gone, the way is clear to create the practice space. Meanwhile, work continues on offices and the team locker room, which looks this now ... and will like this when finished; the rooftop lounge, which looks like this now ... and will look like this when finished. The view remains the same, even on a cloudy day.
Also, remaining the same for the $50 million facility, with its 70,000 square feet of office, conference and practice space, is the February move date. With the exception of Thaddeus Young, that means a longer commute for the team's players.