Louisville Arena

M.A. Mortenson Construction, the Minneapolis-based construction company hired for the construction of Louisville's new downtown arena and parking garage, recently entered into a "site based construction partnership agreement" with the Kentucky Department of Labor's Office of Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). The 22,000-seat facility is being developed in the block bound by Second, Main and Third streets and River Road in downtown Louisville.

The Construction Partnership Program (CPP), run by OSHA's Division of Education & Training, is a voluntary cooperative agreement allowing quarterly consultative visits to the arena job site to provide extensive safety and health surveys. The CPP program will track all training provided to Mortenson Construction and any subcontractors. The program will also track visits performed by the Division of Compliance and monitor any abatement procedures.

In September 2008, the Louisville Arena Authority secured nearly $350 million in bond financing for the 717,000-square-foot arena. Construction is scheduled to be complete and Louisville's downtown arena open in November 2010.