Council Approves Gila River Upgrades

The request is based on “best efforts of the City of Glendale and AEG to predict the highest priority items and estimate the cost of the items to be addressed in order to maintain the facility,” according to the Glendale Star. “City staff toured the arena with AEG several times and our facilities personnel work with AEG’s facility staff on a regular basis,” said Public Works Director Jack Friedline.

The council discussed a number of items listed for repair or replacement – including an upgraded two-way radio system, security cameras and a backup cooling tower – that had been submitted in previous repair lists over three years.

“The previous management group requested numerous items for upgrades and they were never done,” Friedline was quoted as saying. “Even though it was listed and approved in the previous years, the money was never spent on the listed items.”

Friedline said AEG told city officials the arena needed to have a backup cooling tower to make sure the air conditioning and ice remain intact.

Other requested upgrades include replacing the rusted sled under the ice plant; concrete repairs on walkways around arena; replacing freight elevator doors; replacing universal power supplies in IT rooms, and replacing engineering scopes and master sync generators, the Star reported.