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Friday, October 1, 1999
Pepsi Center opens with bugles, balloons, ballyhoo
After two years of working 11 hours a day, Romani's mission was completed Friday as the Pepsi Center opened on his 37th birthday.
"We kind of planned it that way," said Romani, general manager in charge of construction for the $180 million Pepsi Center. "We didn't know if it would work out, but it did. ... It's quite a day, a special day. We're going to see how well this building holds up, and how well we all did."
The Pepsi Center, privately financed without taxpayer money, will be home to the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and NBA's Denver Nuggets.
Singer Celine Dion was the first performer at the new arena, holding a concert Friday night.
Before Dion took the stage, the Pepsi Center opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony complete with bugles, a balloon drop and an appearance by former Ascent Entertainment Group chief executive Charlie Lyons.
Lyons was heavily criticized for brokering an unsuccessful deal to sell the Nuggets, Avalanche and Pepsi Center. The teams and arena later were sold to billionaire Donald Sturm, and Lyons resigned and received a $3.6 million severance in August.
"I'm happy to tell you, it's a marvelous day of celebration for the hard work of a lot of very talented people that I was lucky enough to be surrounded by," Lyons said. "I may not be part of it, but it's always going to be part of me."
The opening ceremony was not without its glitches. Two champagne glasses shattered on the marble floor of the foyer, and Sturm was briefly blanketed when the large, ceremonial red ribbon fell to the ground.
Nothing, however, could dampen the mood.
"We like doing things first rate and first class," Mayor Wellington Webb said. "I think this builds upon Denver as being the best sports place in the United States."
The Pepsi Center is Denver's second new sports venue since 1995, when the Colorado Rockies moved into Coors Field.
The Denver Broncos are scheduled to move into a new stadium in 2001. Romani will be in charge of that job as well.
"Denver already has the finest baseball park in the world," Romani said. "Tonight it opens this world-class sports and entertainment arena, and in two years -- if I have anything to say about it -- Denver will also will have the finest football stadium that the world has to offer."
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