With a week and a half to go until Rogers Place opens its doors, construction crews are putting the final touches on the downtown Edmonton arena.
Photos posted online Sunday by the Edmonton Oilers show staff painting the lines on the rink and installing a large piece of public art.
The photos of the line painting also give a clear view of the arena bowl, where the seats are protected by plastic tarps. The blank boards have yet to be covered in advertisements, and the giant scoreboard — the largest in the NHL — towers over centre ice.
The photos also show workers painstakingly installing a tile floor art piece.
Last year, Alberta artist Alex Janvier was commissioned to create the piece of public art. His painting, Tsa tsa ke k’e (Iron Foot Place), was transformed into a 150 m2 tile mosaic inset in the floor of Ford Hall (formerly called the Winter Garden).
Janvier was selected from a list of Canadian and international artists to create the large piece. The aboriginal muralist’s mosaic is one of four major public art pieces in the arena.
READ MORE: Three pieces of public art for Edmonton’s new arena unveiled
Edmontonians will get a chance to see it all for themselves at an open house on Saturday, Sept. 10. Tours will include a look at the Ford Hall artwork, the massive high-definition scoreboard and the arena concourse.
READ MORE: Edmontonians to get sneak peek of Rogers Place ahead of hockey games, concerts
Those who wish to tour the facility must sign up for tickets, which are now available through Ticketmaster. Tickets are free, but people must book a scheduled entrance slot between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
There is a limit of four tickets per email address. Initially 28,000 were released at 2 p.m. Monday, but due to high demand an additional 14,000 were released. As of 9 p.m. Monday, over 29,000 tickets had been spoken for.
The city said it will monitor demand on Tuesday. If necessary, action will be taken to ensure everyone is accommodated and the time slots are not over-crowded.
On Wednesday, “due to a phenomenal response from Edmontonians,” another time slot – 4 p.m. – was added for the open house.
As of noon Wednesday, 47,298 tickets had been snapped up. All time slots from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. had been fully booked.
People who attend the open house will be given a souvenir booklet with maps that will help them through their self-guided tour. The tour is expected to take 60 to 90 minutes.
Rogers Place will be the new home of the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers will inaugurate their brand new arena on Oct. 12 when they face the rival Calgary Flames on the opening night of the 2016-17 NHL season.
The first concert scheduled at Rogers Place is country star Keith Urban, who will perform on Friday, Sept. 16.
The total cost of the arena is $606 million.
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