The roof is nearly closed on the new Milwaukee Bucks arena in downtown Milwaukee

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

If you want a progress report on the new Milwaukee Bucks arena, consider the experience of watching the Miller Park roof close.

Slowly and dramatically, what was an open-air construction site is becoming a weather-tight building.

"How about that shade!" Bucks president Peter Feigin said during a Friday afternoon tour of the arena site. Indeed, there were more rafters, beams and roof panels and less blue sky visible above the seating bowl.

Insulation panels are installed on the outside of the new arena.

The final two roof truss lifts will take place in early August, said Denver Callahan, senior superintendent for Mortenson Construction.

Cross beams will be attached and then the roofing material will seal out the final rays of sunshine -- at least from above.

And then the already-rapid pace of construction will accelerate as interior finish work gets underway. On Friday afternoon, there were 677 workers on the site, and that number will grow to more than 800 in the months ahead.

"When you start smelling paint everything changes," Callahan said.

The construction goal is to have a heated, weather-tight building ready by the time the snow flies.

During Friday's visit, the progress wasn't evident just overhead. Walls are in place in many areas, including the players' spacious locker room. Huge panels of glass provide dramatic views on the building's swooping north side. Escalators, elevators and staircases are installed.

Concourses are taking shape, and suites are increasingly being built out. One can walk across the skywalk spanning Juneau Ave. to the new parking garage.

Construction plans laid out on a work table show details including which concession stand is for chicken, and which is for sausages.

"We've hit our stride, and everything's on track," said Mike Sorge, project director for Mortenson.

The completion of the roof will be celebrated in late August when the Bucks, construction manager Mortenson, subcontractors and dignitaries will celebrate with a topping off ceremony.

The $524 million arena is being built just north of the Bucks present home in the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Public financing is covering $250 million of the cost of the facility.

The arena is scheduled to open in time for the 2018 NBA season.