Gray announces architects making pitch for chance to reinvent Rupp, convention center

Looking for an update on Rupp Arena? Wait no more, my friend. Mayor Gray sent out a press release this morning to update the people of Lexington and Big Blue Nation on where the project stands: ***** Four outstanding architectural firms want to design Rupp Arena, Lexington Mayor Jim Gray announced today. “These are firms with the imagination to reinvent Rupp Arena and ignite the surrounding blocks with a new level of excitement and activity,” Gray said. Gray and members of a selection committee appointed by Lexington Center Corp. announced the four architectural teams bidding to design Rupp; the five architectural teams bidding to design the Convention Center; and the five construction management teams bidding to build both projects. All architectural firms have teamed with local architects. The Selection Committee — including Chair Brent Rice and members Holly Wiedemann, Royce Pulliam, Ray Ball, Cecil Dunn and Craig Turner — will interview the firms in mid June. The Committee is expected to make its recommendations to the Lexington Center Board by the end of this month. The Lexington Center Board is expected to identify winners this summer. “The public will have an opportunity to interact with the architects as the design develops,” Gray said. Also in June, Lexington Center Board is scheduled to receive a business plan from its four strategic financial consultants — Convention, Sports & Leisure International Inc., Legends, Live Nation Entertainment and HKS Architects — hired early this year to recommend the best way to finance both projects. “An outstanding, specific financial plan is essential,” Gray said. “We will move forward only as we know how we’ll pay for these facilities.” The four bids to design Rupp are from: AECOM/Space Group/Omni — Kansas City/Sweden/Lexington; HKS/JRA — Dallas/Lexington; NBBJ/EOP — Los Angeles/Lexington; and Populous/Sherman Carter Barnhart — Kansas City/Lexington. The five bids to design the Convention Center are from: M+G Murphy Graves/ Ratio — Lexington/ Indianapolis; Populous/Sherman Carter Barnhart — Kansas City/Lexington; NBBJ/EOP — Los Angeles/Lexington; LMN/Omni Architects — Seattle/Lexington; and WORK/Epstein Architects — New York/Chicago. The five bids to manage the construction of both Rupp and the Convention Center are from: Hunt/Abel/Finch- Indianapolis/Lexington; Mortenson/Mathis — Minneapolis/Louisville; Skanska/Congleton-Hacker — National/Lexington; DW Wilburn — Lexington; and Turner/BD Global — National/Lexington. ***** There ya go.