The Flintco-Mortenson joint venture began placing the first of more than 18 elevated concrete decks at the Continental Coliseum, Oklahoma City’s new arena for the NBA’s Thunder, on Oct. 12. The work takes the job above grade after months of foundations and underground utilities, with a crew of nearly 175 on site.
Flintco announced the start that Monday. Crews began on the southeast side and will work clockwise and counterclockwise around the bowl until they meet, building the mezzanine and concourse levels as they go. They’ve also started the east loading dock walls that enclose the back-of-house areas. Dolese Bros., an Oklahoma City supplier, is providing the concrete.
The Continental Coliseum budget
When the city council awarded the joint venture the contract in March 2025, the budget was at least $900 million. By May 2026 the city estimated the cost at $1.016 billion, according to The Bond Buyer, which reported a $762.4 million revenue bond sale to cover most of it.
Those bonds are backed by a 1-cent sales tax voters approved in December 2023 with 71% support. It picks up when the MAPS 4 tax ends and runs 72 months. The Thunder ownership group is putting in $50 million. The Bond Buyer also cited $90 million in general obligation authority and about $99 million in added MAPS 4 money, while the city’s materials list $89 million in MAPS 4 funds.
Assistant City Manager Brent Bryant told the paper the city’s money is limited and it would have to value-engineer the project if costs climb.
Schedule for the Thunder arena
The team is aiming to start structural steel in 2027 and finish by summer 2028, project executive Ellen Becker told Construction Dive. The Bond Buyer reported the arena is due to open by the start of the 2029-30 NBA season. Becker said the phased design and bidding approach, a first for a project this size in Oklahoma City, has been a challenge.
MANICA Architecture is the design architect and TVS is architect of record. The building covers at least 750,000 square feet on the old downtown convention center site and will seat about 17,000. Legends Global will run it.
What the arena means for Oklahoma contractors
Phased bidding means trade packages are still going out while concrete goes up. That favors local subs who can price fast against partial documents, and it’s also where the cost risk lives. With steel lead times stretched nationally, the 2027 steel start is the date to watch.
Mortenson has had a busy year in sports work. It’s on three of the six biggest stadium contracts signed this summer. The Oklahoma City arena is the one where the owner has already said out loud that there’s no extra money.