Some 400 workers are laboring daily at the MSG Sphere construction site near the Venetian, and that number will continue to rise.
That’s according to Nick Tomasino, who is heading the effort to build the 17,500-seat, dome-shaped entertainment venue on Sands Avenue between Manhattan Street and Koval Lane.
Tomasino today led reporters on a tour of the 18-acre site, which looks like a big hole in the ground with some support columns that have been erected. MSG officials broke ground on the project last fall, with plans to open the venue in 2021.
“We’re very excited about this project,” said Tomasino, vice president of construction for Madison Square Garden Co. “It’s exciting to me to be able to come here every day and face the different challenges that we have. Nobody’s ever done this before.”
Once complete, the uniquely shaped arena will be connected to the Venetian and Palazzo via a pedestrian bridge.
The Sphere will feature an immersive, 160,000-square-foot display surface, which is the equivalent of about three football fields.
Tomasino said workers will continue to be added to the 400 or so at the site daily now, though he did not say where the workforce would top out.
The project will take about 75,000 cubic yards of concrete, nearly 2% of what was used to build the Hoover Dam, according to MSG. More than 18,000 cubic yards of concrete has been poured at the site so far.
MSG officials said the Sphere will be able to accommodate about 20,000 people when standing-room space is taken into account.
The company plans to house a number of different events at the Sphere, including concerts, residencies, award shows, corporate events and sporting events.
“This is really the dream of our CEO, Jim Dolan,” said Maire Griffin, an MSG spokeswoman. “He had this dream to disrupt entertainment and to come up with an entirely new way for everyone to be able to interact with audiences.”
Based in New York City, MSG owns the NBA’s New York Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers.
AECOM is the general contractor for the project, which was designed by MSG and Populous. AECOM was the contractor for T-Mobile Arena on the Strip.