Work has resumed on a new Islanders Belmont arena, as the construction team will work to get back on a new schedule calling for the NHL facility to open for the 2021-2022 season.
When construction was halted, more than 330,000 cubic yards of soil have been excavated from the arena site, the entire 15,000 cubic yard concrete foundation has been poured, and approximately 20 percent of the project’s structural steel beams had been installed. This put arena construction ahead of schedule, thanks to a mild winter.
We’ll see if the two-month construction shutdown impacts the 2021 opening or if the mild winter game managers enough breathing space. From Newsday:
“I can confirm that,” Lamoriello said on a teleconference on Wednesday that construction had restarted. “It’s a great sight that it is happening. The most comfortable feeling is that we were ahead of schedule when this all took place. I do not believe there will be any hiccups as far as the delay of when it’s proposed to be open. And that’s great news.”
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo gave the green light to Phase 1 re-opening on Long Island for Wednesday. That includes construction, limited retail sales, manufacturing, wholesale trade and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting.
“As Gov. Cuomo said this week, New York has clearly transitioned to reopening, and supporting major projects that leave a lasting impact will be critical to building our economy back,” Empire State Development acting commissioner and CEO-designate Eric Gertler said in a statement on Wednesday. “As the region enters Phase One, workers were back on site today preparing to resume construction in a safe environment that protects their health.”
Construction of the new arena, set to open for the 2021-2022 NHL season, was halted on March 27 during a state shutdown to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. It had previously been announced the Islanders would play the 2020-21 season at the renovated Nassau Coliseum, the team’s former home. The privately funded $1.3 billion Belmont Redevelopment Project will construct a 250-room hotel and 350,000-square-foot retail village in addition to a 19,000-seat arena for the Islanders and other events.
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