Show Low council adopts Alternate 1 seating plan to balance capacity and building height

The Show Low City Council unanimously approved Alternate 1 Sept. 16 as the seating configuration for the planned Show Low Sports and Event Center. City staff and the architect presented multiple seating alternatives that trade capacity against building height, parking and concession-area needs.

Architect Chris Ford said the方案 labeled Alternate 1 provides roughly 4,300 seats in the seating bowl with 2,800 telescopic seats and additional loose seating on an upper walking path; the design team said the revised arrangement lowers the structure by about four feet compared with earlier plans. Ford said, "This 1 shows 4,300 seats, of which 2,800 are telescopic."

The design presentation outlined five alternate schemes. Staff used a baseline parking capacity of 780 spaces for the original site layout; under Alternate 1 the project would be short about 295 parking spaces and would need to identify off-site or overflow parking. The architect also told council that seating choices affect concessions space and point-of-sale needs: reductions in seating can lower required concession square footage and produce cost savings ranging from approximately $0 under the largest-scope scheme to about $3.1 million under the smallest-scope scheme.

Councilmember Adams moved to adopt Alternate 1 seating configuration; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Council and residents discussed tradeoffs between event types (graduations, concerts, championships) and operational requirements; the design team said they will proceed with further design refinements while accounting for parking and food-and-beverage planning.