The new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Presented by New York Community Bank unveiled its exterior finishing that pays homage to Long Island’s natural beauty on Nov. 7. The exterior of the 416,000 square-foot building was painted black in order to create a dramatic contrast to the new brushed-aluminum composite “fins.” The “fins” will remind those who attend future concerts, sporting events such as the Long Island Nets, and family shows, of the waves, dunes and beach grass that are a part of Long Island’s world-famous beaches.
“There are 32 individual panels that will wrap the entire building and these are the first two of them,” said project manager Rebecca D’Eloia. “They’re made up of brushed aluminum and they’re attached to a steel space frame, which we’ve been assembling on sight now for a couple of weeks.”
Crown Corr, an Indiana-based company, is coordinating the exterior fabrication process while SHoP Architects is leading the redesign in the construction of the exterior. SHoP is utilizing a 3-D scan of the arena’s exterior and digitizing every element through a parametric design process and a fully-coordinated model. There will be 960 fins encasing the redesigned coliseum that will create subtle visual differences with the change of natural light throughout the day and will be illuminated
at night.
“All of the doors and windows along the base of the building will be completely replaced,” said D’Eloia.
Not only are the exterior fins being added, the inside is being completely remodeled for a sleek and contemporary appearance.
“Inside we are doing all new finishes,” said D’Eloia. “The concourse will be completely different. We’re putting new floors in, new ceramic tiles on the walls. All of the concession stands are being completely gutted and rebuilt with new food service equipment so we can offer new food menu items. We’re redoing all of the bathrooms, so there will be twice as many bathrooms as there were. We are replacing every seat in the building. All of the lighting is being replaced with LED high-efficiency sustainable lighting. The plumbing system and HVAC system are being refurbished.”
Long Island’s newly renovated coliseum will have the capacities of 13,000 for hockey, 13,500 for basketball and 14,500 for concerts. Also renovated are luxury suites, the box office, performing artist suites and team locker rooms.
Long Island’s own Billy Joel closed the coliseum with the last show in August 2015 and will be returning to open the coliseum with its first show in April 2017.
“He said goodbye to the old place and he’ll help us say hello to the new place,” said D’Eloia.
