Arena ready to get Kraken

The first event ever inside Climate Pledge Arena — whether it will be considered the official first event or not — was far from a soft opening.

“Dave Grohl said he was going to tear the building down,” joked Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke on Wednesday, barely 12 hours after Foo Fighters christened the new facility. “He came close, at 2 1/2 hours I think he was intent.”

The home of the Seattle Kraken survived the screams and guitars of rock stars once this week and seems ready for its hockey debut on Saturday night when the Kraken host the Vancouver Canucks. Before the first home game for the NHL’s newest franchise, the arena will have its first official event Friday night when Coldplay performs there.

The week’s events — which began with Tuesday night’s benefit show featuring Foo Fighters — are the culmination of a process that started nearly five years ago when Oak View Group was selected by the city of Seattle to renovate what had been known as KeyArena when it was home to the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA.

It was originally earmarked as a $600 million project. When the doors open for the first Kraken game, the price tag will have topped $1 billion, with the facility now featuring plush premium seating sections, exclusive clubs and the first three-sided dual scoreboard system.

The arena also is running off electricity generated in part by solar panels, will use recycled rain water for its icemaking and has a living wall of vegetation on one of the concourses.