Upgrades at the Budweiser Events Center as Larimer County invests in the future of the building

Mike Boschert

$3.25 MILLION INVESTED INTO THE BUDWEISER EVENTS CENTER AT THE RANCH

(Loveland, CO) – The Budweiser Events Center at The Ranch has experienced and is currently undergoing a slew of upgrades to the building that also includes some enhancements to the fan experience. At a grand total of roughly $3.25 million, Larimer County, along with the Colorado Eagles, is proving its commitment to the citizens of Northern Colorado.

“Larimer County is committed to supporting our tenant partners to ensure the future success of the Budweiser Events Center at The Ranch,” said Chris Ashby, campus director of The Ranch Events Complex. “This is an exciting time not only for the Budweiser Events Center, but the campus as a whole.”

Building upgrades include: locker rooms, coaches offices, official’s locker room, green room, fitness center, an outdoor storage facility for the arena, a state-of-the-art ice chiller system, a revolutionary LED Sport Lights system and free Wi-Fi for all patrons at the Budweiser Events Center.

Upgrade & Renovation Breakdown

• Ice Chiller System – $1.8 Million
• Event Level Upgrades – $1 Million
• Wi-Fi – $250,000
• LED Sport Lights – $200,000

The Budweiser Events Center at The Ranch is excited to begin offering free Wi-Fi to all event patrons starting on November 2, 2018 during the Colorado Eagles AHL hockey game against the Tucson Roadrunners. This $250,000 upgrade includes over 100 access points throughout the building to ensure seamless connection during events.

“We’re very excited to see Larimer County and the Colorado Eagles continue to invest in a facility that provides such high caliber entertainment for all of the citizens of northern Colorado and southern Wyoming,” said Spectra’s Keller Taylor, General Manager of the Budweiser Events Center. “Not only is it exciting to see upgrades and renovations occur for the building and the team, but we’re looking forward to enhancing the fan experience with free, building-wide Wi-Fi.”

Immediately following the conclusion of the Colorado Eagles championship hockey season, construction crews began working on the renovations. Larimer County in partnership with the Colorado Eagles provided the backing of a major overhaul that reshaped the event level of the arena.

This included upgrades to the current Colorado Eagles locker room, coaches and athletic training rooms and the construction of a brand-new on-site training facility for the team. This resulted in a loss of storage space for the arena, which brought about the need for an external storage space to be constructed to accommodate the arena needs.

In addition to the many locker room upgrades and renovations, a new artist/talent Green Room was constructed on the east side of the arena event level to accommodate event needs that the arena was previously lacking.

The largest investment of these upgrades was the new Ice Chiller System that maintains the temperature level of the ice throughout the entire season. With miles of piping just 4 inches beneath the concrete arena floor, the new ice chiller system will result in significant cost savings with regards to the buildings utilities.

Wrapping up the building upgrades and renovations is the state-of-the-art Ephesus Lumadapt LED Sports Lighting System. This revolutionary new system will not only improve the arena experience for the players, but also for the event patrons and event media partners while benefitting the environment as it will reduce the carbon footprint of the building.

Lumadapt’s user interface provides real-time system monitoring and the ability to proactively respond to any system issues that may arise. Additionally, the system allows the building to utilize RGBA color, beam tuning, color temperature tuning and the ability to create personalized scenes with the immersive lighting software. The system also brings with it a fully customizable LED lighting and control system that allows for ease of upgrades in the future.

“These upgrades have not only substantially improved the facilities for our players and staff, but they will also create an even better gameday experience for our fans,” said Colorado Eagles President and General Manager Chris Stewart. “The new LED lighting system, we believe, will enhance the fans’ ability to follow the game in the arena and improve the video and photo components for those watching the game at home. Additionally, quick and reliable access to wi-fi throughout the BEC should allow fans to communicate and broaden the opportunity to dive deeper into game statistics and player information. Larimer County and the Colorado Eagles have worked hand-in-hand to complete what we feel are some incredibly exciting new enhancements for every single fan entering the Budweiser Events Center.”