HARRISON, N.J. — Construction has started on Red Bull Arena, a $200 million, 25,000-seat soccer stadium in Harrison.
Part of the Harrison Redevelopment Project, the stadium will be home to the Major League Soccer team Red Bull New York, named after the well-known energy drink. Phase I of the development includes the West Building, which will house the home and visitor locker rooms, stadium offices, three clubs, 1,116 club seats, 30 luxury suites and press facilities.
“It’s something tangible that people can see (of the construction progress),” says Erik Stover, Red Bull New York managing director. “(You can) see it coming out of the ground and you know it’s a reality. It shows that that this group is going to do what it takes to get this project done and take Red Bull New York to the next level.”
Structural steel will start to be put into place next month for the main seating bowl and roof. The roof will extend from its edge over the entire seating bowl and then curve down to the concourse. It will extend 120 feet from the last seat to halfway between the field wall and the field’s touchlines, with 60 feet of it being translucent to allow in natural light.
Originally called Red Bull Park, Stover says the new name reflects a more international feel.
“Now that we have complete control of our project and our own destiny, (Red Bull Arena) is a name that’s more in line with what Red Bull is doing worldwide with soccer, with our club in Salzburg, with the academy in Sao Paolo and Ghana, and of course the club here and our academy,” says Stover.
Red Bull Arena is scheduled to open in September 2009.