The Bank of Oklahoma Center, or BOK Center for short, is an 18,041 seat, 550,000 square-foot, multi-purpose arena in Tulsa, Oklahoma currently under construction, the general contractor is Tulsa Vision Builders, a joint venture between Flintco, Inc. and Manhattan Construction Company. The arena should be completed by September 1st, 2008. It will be home to the Tulsa Oilers ice hockey team, Tulsa Talons af2 team. Ground was broken for the arena on August 31, 2005.

Naming rights for the arena were purchased by the Bank of Oklahoma. The arena is the flagship of the Tulsa area's Vision 2025 long-range planning projects. The original cost of the arena was $141,000,000.00, but increases in the cost of structural steel, concrete, and labor due to a robust local economy have driven the price up. Corporate sponsorship and purchases of box seats, luxury boxes, and other fund raising items have provided more than $20,000,000 in additional funding for extras, including terrazzo flooring and a light display for the iconic glass wall that wraps around the front of the building.

MATRIX Architects, Engineers, Planners of Tulsa is Architect of Record for a team of Architects including César Pelli, who designed the arena. The arena is on budget, thanks to some corporate monies, in exchange for interior advertising.

The need for hotel space around the new arena has put forth a plan to relocate City Hall and use the property to build a new hotel.

It was announced on February 28, 2008 that the Houston Rockets would face the Orlando Magic in the first big sporting event at the new BOK Center on October 13, 2008.

References

External links

• Official website
• Link to Webcam Construction Progress
• Link to Webcam Construction Progress Looking West