Fiserv Forum: From blueprints to breaking ground to building
MILWAUKEE -- In total, crews completed an impressive two million hours of construction time at Fiserv Forum. The whole process was completed in a little over two years.
It all started on June 18, 2016, with a ceremony and block party to help kick off the historic groundbreaking on the new arena.
In August, construction got underway and it was announced the Milwaukee Bucks were partnering with Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin for a pair of new health facilities adjacent to the arena.
Later that month, we got a virtual tour, giving us a glimpse of what the new arena would look like.
By November 2016, the arena project went vertical – with crews erecting steel beams.
Just six months into construction, the first concrete deck was poured, which helps make up the concourse level of the arena.
In February 2017, foundation for some of the seats was poured and the pre-cast concrete blocks were lowered into place.
By April 2017, much of the work was centered on finishing the concrete seating bowl and following that work, crews started to raise the first of the long-span steel roof trusses, each weighing 23 ½ tons.
FOX6 got a tour of the arena at the end of June 2017. We saw the atrium and walked past the lower bowl, before moving through a corridor to an area known as the “Bucks Campus,” which would be 30,000 feet of customized space.
There was a benchmark in July 2017, when construction hit just over 50 percent completion.
Another milestone during this build was the roof-topping ceremony.
Shortly after that, the outside of the arena got its unique look, thanks to nearly 9,000 zinc panels.
In November 2017, the parking structure connected to the arena opened. That structure has six levels, each named after a different Wisconsin city.
Just before the start of 2018, installation began on new seats – 17,500 of them; 9,600 in the lower bowl.
In January 2018, another piece of the arena puzzle was put into place. Crews raised the Daktronics scoreboard into the rafters at what would be center court. The high-definition board is 25 feet by 29 feet and is one of the top 10 biggest scoreboards in the NBA.
By April 2018, the arena was about 90 percent complete.
It’s then that we got our next tour and a first look at the premium views from the group suite level.
By May 2018, Prostar Surfaces, a Milwaukee company that’s worked with the Bucks for years, was busy constructing the arena floor.
In June, nearly 900 Bucks' season ticket holders got to tour the new arena. Later that month, finishing touches were put on the new arena. During another tour, we saw the open concourse design and the patio that offers a panoramic view of Milwaukee.
Two years after construction started, the arena got a name: Fiserv Forum.
August 26, 2018: A block party attracted more than 50,000 fans and a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring politicians, Bucks' owners, and Bucks' legends, who helped mark the opening of Fiserv Forum.
