The Centennial Authority held its monthly board meeting Thursday and the news on the Lenovo Center renovations and enhancements were all positive.
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There have been no show-stoppers, no snags. Everything is on budget and on schedule for the $300 million project, authority chairman Philip Isley said.
“Everything is good,” Isley said after the meeting, which was held at N.C. State’s Park Alumni Center. “We’re doing exactly what you should be doing in a renovation.”
All the seats were removed in the arena’s lower bowl — “That’s wild,” Isley said, smiling — and are being replaced, section by section.
“It looks like mushrooms popping up,” authority executive director Jeff Merritt said.
Reducing the number of aisles in the lower bowl also will give it a new look while increasing the arena’s seating capacity.
The arena is in the midst of being shut down for eight weeks, with the first event in the refurbished building set for Sept. 15 and the Rod Wave: Don’t Look Down tour stop.
“The seats are coming back and we feel confident for Sept. 15, when the first event will be there,” Isley said. “You might see some dry wall and excuse-my-dust type of items in the arena. But it should be open and bigger and better.”
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For those wondering how work has been going at Lenovo here’s the lower bowl minus the seats. New ones going in. Photo from Centennial Authority. pic.twitter.com/jnPm3dY52c
The Carolina Hurricanes, coming off their Stanley Cup championship, will play a home preseason game in the arena on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
The Canes announced Wednesday that all season tickets for the 2026-27 season at Lenovo Center had been sold, with a limited number of individual tickets still to be available.
Carolina averaged 18,373 fans per home game last season and were one of 13 NHL teams to notch 100% in capacity. The Canes have sold out 168 consecutive regular-season and playoff games.
Hurricanes president Brian Fork was at Thursday’s authority meeting and was given a hand when Isley noted Fork’s name now was etched on the Stanley Cup.
Isley announced longtime authority general counsel Clyde Holt would be retiring and a new in-house counsel hired. Holt has advised the authority since it was created.
Several authority members are planning a celebration of life service at the arena for former chairman Steve Stroud, who died July 11. A date has not been set.
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This story was originally published August 6, 2026 at 4:12 PM.