Summer floor project at the Resch Center requires the removal of 6,534 chairs
ASHWAUBENON – Anyone who has ever had to remove furniture from a room for a flooring project at home can identify with this summer’s undertaking at the Resch Center – approximately 6,534 chairs.
The 22-year-old arena is getting a new epoxy floor, a two-month process that will require the removal of all permanent seating from the stadium, meaning some of the best seats at a concert or hockey game will temporarily be face down in the concourse.
“All of the seats will have to be removed, but not all at once because we don’t have enough space in the building to accommodate all of them,” said Terry Charles, senior manager of corporate communications for PMI Entertainment Group, which manages the Resch Center.
In other words: an arena-sized chair dance game.
Workers at Protective Coating Specialists in Appleton loosen groups of several seats at a time to clear a large area for floor access, then repeat the process as they move around the bowl.
Chairs in the lower areas are taken to the ground floor, while those higher up are taken through the tunnels into the hall. Each seat has a number, but not every area or row has the same number of seats, so it’s not like they’re just arbitrarily taken out. All the pieces have to fit back together like a puzzle.
“It’s a process. They’re all labeled,” Charles said. “There’s a method to this madness.”
Once the chairs are out of the way, the top layer of flooring is sanded to roughen it, then cleaned and two new coats of epoxy are applied to give the concrete floor a durable finish that will withstand the wear and tear of foot traffic in the building.
More: The Resch Center unveiled its new cocktail dispenser for Charlie Berens’ Old Fashioned Brandy, and my goodness, people loved it
More: Artstreet 2024 changes layout, relocates artist booths and adds events for third year in Ashwaubenon
This is only the second time the Resch Center has gone through this process since it opened in 2002. The last time was about 13 or 14 years ago, Charles said.
Hundreds of thousands of people have passed through the Resch Center since then. With all the spills and dirt brought in on shoes, the floor has become so damaged that it can no longer be properly cleaned and needs a fancy new coat of paint.
The difficult part is finding a two-month window when the building is not at capacity, which is usually in the summer. The project’s planned start date fortunately had to be pushed back a week to accommodate the Green Bay Blizzards’ playoff games in late July and early August, Charles said.
The floor will be ready in time for the Green Bay Gamblers’ first home games of the 2024–25 season on October 4 and 5, followed by the Styx concert on October 11.
The Resch Center can accommodate up to 10,500 people, including seating on the floor and folding chairs in some deck areas of the stadium. Only 6,534 seats are permanent.
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and features writer for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Reach her at 920-431-8347 or [email protected]. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
