Is the gondola seating done anywhere else? Can't imagine this is a first time design here. How much seating is it really going to add? Not sure if it's cool or too gimmicky. Also not sure about having folks walk out over the crowd on cat walks to get to them.
Does look like it will block the view of the jumbotron, but I don't think it's a big deal assuming there will be television screens on the back of the gondola seating showing exactly what's on the jumbotron.
The Gondola is in place and ready to go. The seats directly behind the gondola will not be able to see the scoreboard; however, there are large TV's going in behind them. You won't see people really walking on the catwalks. I'd imagine if there was a need, but there really isn't much of a place to "hide" up there besides overtop of the scoreboard. The cool part about it is that you can see the people going in and out of the press box/owner suites. That is unless they block the view, which I doubt because of the framing and drywall is in place.
I wish I could post the pictures of taken from inside, but it's been made clear that if they catch anyone posting pictures that we'd be out of there quickly. I've heard of 3 guys thrown out already. I can answer any questions you guys have.
As of right now, the ice is not down yet but the cooling coils are being tested. I haven't been over to the practice ice since they started testing, but the main ice has a huge raised tarp over the top of where the ice surface will be.
There's another cool feature that IMO is a terrible idea. Both the tunnels leading out of the arena towards the locker rooms will be glassed off. This means that the fans can watch the players go in and out of the locker room. During the game though, this area will be open with concessions via sliding glass walls.