Jordan Valley Park: Turning vision into reality

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The vision of Jordan Valley Park is coming into focus.|ret||ret||tab|

The city will unveil to the public the amphitheater and walking trail east of the ice park May 18, culminating phase I of Jordan Valley Park. The dedication ceremonies and tours begin at 11 a.m. and conclude with a fireworks display that evening.|ret||ret||tab|

The next step in the plan is to demolish the University Plaza Trade Center parking deck to clear the way for construction of a new parking deck, said City Manager Tom Finnie. Bids will be awarded next month, he said, and construction will immediately follow. |ret||ret||tab|

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Three in one|ret||ret||tab|

The most concrete plans in place are for a trio of structures between Hammons Tower and The Shrine Mosque that will consist of a nearly 1,000-space parking deck, a 7,000-seat multipurpose arena and a 45,000-square-foot exposition center. |ret||ret||tab|

The three facilities, although designed by different architects, are meant to appear as one, said Benjamin Alexander, Jordan Valley Park planner. In fact, the parking deck will have a pedestrian walkway connected to the arena, and the arena will share a common wall with the expo center.|ret||ret||tab|

Two of the architects involved are local: Butler Rosenbury & Partners Inc., which designed the expo center; and Pellham Phillips Hagerman Architects-Engineers, designers of the arena. Designing the parking deck is the Kansas City architectural firm of Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum Inc., better known as HOK. |ret||ret||tab|

We have had team meetings involving the architects of all three projects, said expo center designer David Hess. Weve really developed the designs separately, but in conjunction with all the other firms. Its worked out pretty well.|ret||ret||tab|

Alexander said the idea is to have a seamless transition between the three structures.|ret||ret||tab|

Weve combined the exposition center and arena so that they work as a seamless project, he said. You could go from a floor event in the arena (right) into the big expo space.|ret||ret||tab|

Also, pedestrians will be able to flow between the facilities via a continuous lobby.|ret||ret||tab|

The whole lobby portion is a walkway from the parking lot clear through to the expo (center), said architect Larry Phillips.|ret||ret||tab|

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Parking deck|ret||ret||tab|

The first project to completion should be the $11.25 million, 4.5-story parking deck, which is slated to be complete in March.|ret||ret||tab|

The parking deck will have entrances from Trafficway and St. Louis streets with office/retail/commercial frontage on the lower level.|ret||ret||tab|

Alexander said the exterior will feature primarily pre-cast concrete and brick. It will pick up on some elements from the ice rink, he added, using warm gray tones with sandblasted finishes to show the details and texture.|ret||ret||tab|

Designers from HOK could not be reached for comment.|ret||ret||tab|

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Exposition center|ret||ret||tab|

The highlight of the $12.5 million exposition center, according to Alexander is the 100,000 square feet of contiguous space it will provide, combined with the renovated trade center.|ret||ret||tab|

Thats very important as we market our facility for regional shows and events, Alexander said.|ret||ret||tab|

The expo center and renovated trade center are set to open in September 2003. |ret||ret||tab|

Its exterior and faade design is still being worked out, Hess said.|ret||ret||tab|

Were still coordinating that. As we move into construction documents, its going to take even more coordination to work out the structural details, he added.|ret||ret||tab|

This project is fairly unique. There arent many applications where we have worked with other architects on different projects.|ret||ret||tab|

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Multipurpose arena|ret||ret||tab|

The 7,000-seat, $25 million arena will have a primary entrance on St. Louis, but also a secondary entrance from the north side, facing the park. |ret||ret||tab|

Phillips said the arena will have two-tier seating with 23 corporate luxury boxes.|ret||ret||tab|

Among possible uses are hockey, basketball, arena football, concerts and the circus. |ret||ret||tab|

Drury University will play its home basketball games in the arena, but no other team or league has staked a claim on it yet, Phillips said.|ret||ret||tab|

There will be many, many things in there besides basketball and hockey, Phillips said. He added that making it a truly multipurpose facility was a challenge. The firm had never designed an arena quite like this before, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

We wanted all the options we could have, Phillips said. Its an exciting adventure and turned out well.|ret||ret||tab|

Other features include a club on the back side that will overlook the park. He said that it has not been decided if th club will be private or public, but it will have a grill and a bar. The arena also will have star dressing rooms and a green room for entertainers.|ret||ret||tab|

The arena is expected to open in September 2004. |ret||ret||tab|

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