CFG Bank Arena

Any sports/entertainment facility renovation involves executing grand ideas in amenity design to create a stunning experience for the attendees. For a properly executed facility such as Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena, every detail matters, including the style and function provided by Chicago Faucets for the washrooms in their high-end suites.

The Challenge

The Baltimore Arena had seen its glory days.

The original Arena, designed by architect Arthur Gould Odell Jr. in the futuristic Googie style, opened in 1962 as the Baltimore Civic Center and was a part of an urban renewal effort in the city’s downtown during the late 1950s and the 1960s.

The Arena was home to the NBA’s Baltimore Bullets from 1963 until 1973. In its heyday, top-notch performers played to metro Baltimore fans in the 14,000-seat Arena, including Frank Sinatra, Elvis, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Aretha Franklin. More recently, though, the facility’s age began to create problems. Logistical issues made setting up events difficult, and the building lacked the amenities arenas in other top-market cities offered. National acts avoided Baltimore’s premier indoor music and events facility for nearby cities such as Philadelphia and Washington, DC, with better venues.

“This is a fascinating building with a bold vision”

– Chris Granger
president of OVG 360
CFG Bank Arena facility operator

But… Rather than razing the old Arena, the City of Baltimore, in partnership with the Oak View Group, launched a $250 million, 16-month project to give the metro area a reimagined facility to draw people back to enjoy A-listed acts. To affirm its place in the community, a major local bank picked up the naming rights, and the facility became known as the CFG Bank Arena.

SCI Architects, the same firm that planned the Wells Fargo Center’s $350 million renovation in Philadelphia, was the lead designer. The Clark Construction Group, provider of construction services for most sports facilities in the Baltimore/DC area, joined the project as the lead contractor.

This new facility was the city of Baltimore’s opportunity to stand out, and the project management’s mission was to make sure they offered upgraded amenities wherever possible. A key part of the renovation: all-new luxury suites for premium customers. These suites are high-end hospitality spaces generally built underneath the seating bowl with no views of the performance. More common in sports facilities, elite patrons pay top dollar to entertain guests in these large private spaces. To watch the game, they walk down a hallway to sit in the best seats in the house, close to the action.

For the washrooms in the Arena’s suites, occupants will be greeted by enhanced, highquality details, right down to the faucets and fittings. Ned and Patrick Dwyer with E.J. Dwyer Co. Inc., the local Chicago Faucets manufacturer’s representative, partnered with plumbing contractor JCM, Inc., selecting Alpina^® Series touchless faucets for the washrooms in the luxury suites, in the sleek, gently curving style known as Avisio^®.

The world-renowned, London-based Christoph Behling Design created the touch-free Avisio faucet’s slim, timeless, and elegant form. Avisio positions the water outlet higher than typical washroom faucets, giving the user more space for hand washing, while the touchless design improves hygiene. Avisio is a perfect blend of form and function for the CFG Bank Arena’s guests in the premium suites.

Beyond the faucet’s stunning look, the unit faces the demands of hundreds of events and many thousands of patrons using them each year. To withstand these demands, Avisio features a heavy-duty, one-piece, cast brass body with an abuse-resistant outlet to withstand tampering.

“It was our job to provide the project with a smooth ordering and installation process.”

– Patrick Dwyer

As for installation, Dwyer notes that “the innovative design of the sensor control box that houses all the quick-connect electrical components saves installation time and makes the system easy to maintain.”

The control box electronics are protected below deck to reduce vandalism and improve the faucet’s aesthetics. Two ‘AA’ batteries power the faucets. Easy-to-access stop valves are built into the control box, and a separate ASSE1070-certified thermostatic mixing valve protects users against scalding.

With a tight schedule to complete the renovation, management appreciated the faucet’s ease of installation: Alpina Series faucets are up and running in minutes without the need for programming

Along with style, the Alpina Series faucets provide the performance that patrons expect. A built-in sensor with superior detection turns the faucet on when the user approaches and shuts off when the user finishes hand washing.

According to the CFG Bank Arena’s Director of Operations, Milton Groff, “The faucets have been trouble-free and work very well. I have had no complaints about the function of these faucets; as with any sensor faucets, we typically hear about faucets not working the way they should. Not hearing about the faucets has been a pleasant surprise.”

“High-end” doesn’t mean wasteful. Goff points out that the programmable sensor faucets help the Arena save resources. Adjusting the run time of the faucets reduces overall water consumption. Thermostatic mixing valves not only allow the facility to control the consumption of heated water, thereby saving energy; they also help protect visitors against scalding.

Though faucets represent a small part of the overall operation, it’s details like these that enhance user comfort and contribute to a memorable experience at the CFG Bank Arena. Alpina Series touchless faucets complement the design of the luxury suites and perform flawlessly, allowing the maintenance crew to focus their attention on other things While the facility previously had just two suites, the renovated CFG Bank Arena now features 38 suites, including 12 party suites and 26 bunker suites

The glory days of the Baltimore Arena are back, with a new generation of top-line acts and some old favorites. In a fitting full circle, “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band opened the renovated facility with a 28-song set, performed to a capacity crowd of 16,000 fans, 50 years after he first played the Arena.

Thanks to a little help from Chicago Faucets, the new suites were a hit with patrons, and the project team couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome of the renovation. According to OVG 360’s president Chris Granger “the arena is hospitality and environmentally forward, and the Alpina Series faucets contribute to both."

As The Boss himself might put it, Alpina Series faucets from Chicago Faucets are “born to run.”