Brookly Nets/Barclays Center Weathered Steel Company Demise

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(crainsnewyork.com) The developer of the Barclays Center arena in downtown Brooklyn says that the year-end demise of the company that is fabricating the weathered steel for the arena's distinctive façade will not result in any construction delays.
The 675,000-square-foot arena that will be home to the Brooklyn Nets is supposed to open this fall in time for the start of the basketball season. It is the first building to rise in the vast $4.9 billion, 14-apartment tower Atlantic Yards project being developed by Forest City Ratner Cos.
“We are concerned when any of our partners has problems, but we don't believe it will affect our construction schedule,” said MaryAnne Gilmartin, executive vice president of Forest City Ratner, referring to steel fabricator ASI Limited having gone out of business. “We can still continue with construction.”
In a statement, a spokesman for Forest City said the site's construction manager, Hunt, and the bonding company for ASI have developed an action plan. They have already started work on site and have developed several options for on-going fabrication. It didn't specify the options.
According to a blog by SHoP Architects, the façade's designer, it started working with ASI in the summer of 2010 to develop the process to weather the steel. Early last year, ASI started to process the 12,000 weathered-steel panels plus support rails that were needed for the arena. Those panels are combined into 921 large units that are used to enclose the center and build the canopy. The spokesman said that 57% of the 561 panels that will enclose the arena have been put up. He said the enclosure panels are critical because they protect the arena from the elements.
There was no answer to calls placed to Whitestown, Ind.-based ASI. Gregg Pasquarelli, a partner at SHoP Architects, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
The Atlantic Yards Report, a watchdog blog about the controversial project, first reported the news about ASI. It also reported that a construction monitor report said the metal work for the exterior skin had an “early finish” date of May 13.

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