With the demolition of the Downtown Plaza complete, an estimated 200 past and present Sacramento Kings officials broke ground Wednesday at the site of the new $477 million arena, set to open in October 2016 in time for the 2016-17 NBA season.
Those attending the ceremony included Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and other city and team leaders, including original Sacramento Kings owner Gregg Lukenbill, who brought the Kings to Sacramento from Kansas City in 1985.
Demolition of the Downtown Plaza began on August 13. Almost 1,400 workers are expected to work on the construction of the new arena over the next two years.