Home Ace Issues Four Architectural Firms pitch to reinvent Lexington’s Rupp Arena

Four Architectural Firms pitch to reinvent Lexington’s Rupp Arena

Lexington mayor Jim Gray announced today the  four architectural firms bidding to design Rupp; the five architectural teams bidding to design the Lexington Convention Center; and the five construction management teams bidding to build both projects. He said, “These are firms with the imagination to reinvent Rupp Arena and ignite the surrounding blocks with a new level of excitement and activity,”

The architectural firms have teamed with local architects.

Gray and members of a selection committee appointed by Lexington Center Corp. announced the teams:

AECOM/Space Group/Omni – Kansas City/Sweden/Lexington;

HKS/JRA – Dallas/Lexington;

NBBJ/EOP – Los Angeles/Lexington;

Populous/Sherman Carter Barnhart – Kansas City/Lexington.

The Selection Committee – including Chair Brent Rice and members Holly Wiedemann, Royce Pulliam, Ray Ball, Cecil Dunn and Craig Turner – will interview the firms in mid June. The Committee is expected to make its recommendations to the Lexington Center Board by the end of June, with an announcement from the Lexington Center Board expected this summer.

The five bids to design the Convention Center are from:

  • M+G Murphy Graves/ Ratio – Lexington KY/ Indianapolis;
  • Populous/Sherman Carter Barnhart – Kansas City/Lexington;
  • NBBJ/EOP – Los Angeles/Lexington;
  • LMN/Omni Architects – Seattle/Lexington; and
  • WORK/Epstein Architects – New York/Chicago.

The five bids to manage the construction of both Rupp and the Convention Center are from:

Hunt/Abel/Finch- Indianapolis/Lexington;

Mortenson/Mathis – Minneapolis/Louisville;

Skanska/Congleton-Hacker – National/Lexington;

DW Wilburn – Lexington;

and Turner/BD Global – National/Lexington.