Exploring Altronix’s power play at UBS Arena 

Altronix solutions are powering Long Island’s new live entertainment hub.

UBS Arena is the crown jewel of a $1.3b redevelopment initiative that is transforming 43 acres of land located in Elmont on Long Island, NY into a premier sports, entertainment and hospitality cultural phenomenon.

Affectionately nicknamed “The Stable” by fans, this arena pays homage to its location at Belmont Park, a legendary thoroughbred racing venue with a history spanning 117 years.  

Drawing inspiration from New York landmarks, UBS Arena leverages Belmont’s historic pedigree while delivering a bold vision for its future.

With more than 18,000 seats, state-of-the-art acoustics, two outdoor terraces and more restrooms per person than any other arena in Metro New York, UBS Arena invites patrons to immerse themselves in the iconic atmosphere of Belmont Park while enjoying world class entertainment. 

UBS Arena also serves as the home ice of the New York Islanders and is the only arena in Metro New York built specifically for hockey.

After decades of attempts to rebuild or replace the Islander’s former home at the Nassau Coliseum, the Islanders patiently waited for a home to call their own.

Yet, despite the challenges and changes in venue, the Islanders’ loyal fan base continued to rally behind the team until UBS Arena finally opened just in time for the 2021 NHL season. 

UBS Arena now stands as the epicentre of live entertainment for Long Island sports and music fans.

From iconic performances by the likes of Harry Styles and Bruce Springsteen to the recent 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, UBS Arena has already hosted several unforgettable experiences in its brief history, solidifying its reputation as a premier cultural destination. 

Securing the iconic destination 

Providing security and telecommunications systems for a 745,000 square foot arena is no small task.

That is why UBS Arena sought the expertise of LPC and its parent company, B&G Electrical Contractors, to address a project of such scale.

As William Eggers from LPC explained: “The telecoms project was awarded under B&G Electrical Contractors and, subsequently, the electronic security portion of the project was awarded to LPC.” 

Eggers has been with LPC for over 30 years and leads the company’s electronic security division.

As the Team Lead for the UBS Arena project, Eggers was charged with configuring and deploying the arena’s physical access control system, which required infrastructure, hardware and power for hundreds of doors and devices.  

“The challenge with UBS was that it was a very large project, one of the largest in LPC’s history,” said Eggers.

“There are monitor doors, control doors and lots of card readers. In addition, there are numerous gates and safety bollards that are all controlled through the access system with all of that wiring going back to individual IDF closets.”   

Eggers knew that a project of this size and scale necessitated intricate pre-planning to simplify the installation process as much as possible to make the opening of the 2021 NHL season.

For this, he turned to Altronix for its industry leading power and access integration solutions.  

Partners in planning  

According to Eggers, Altronix products were essential in orchestrating a seamless system design. “I have been working with Altronix during all my years at LPC,” he added.

“We ultimately chose them because of the equality and ease of their solutions as well as the outstanding support they provide. The fact that their headquarters is located in Brooklyn, NY near the project site was an added bonus.”  

To begin the planning process, Eggers brought plans for UBS Arena to Altronix directly.

From there, the companies collaborated to devise a turnkey access solution that would see the integration of Mercury hardware with the Altronix Trove access and power integration solution.  

Altronix utilised the spreadsheets and drawings provided by Eggers to first lay out the system, determining the quantity of Mercury boards that would be required, the amount of room available in each enclosure/board and what cabling would lead to each panel based on available space.

Eggers also communicated to Altronix that they wanted to allocate 20% spare room within the panels to leave space should UBS Arena require system expansion.  

Utilising Altronix Trove3 Mercury Access and Power Integration Kits, Altronix was able to provide LPC with pre-configured backplanes designed to specifications.

While Altronix sent the backplanes to LPC to pre-wire as much as possible in their offices, the enclosures were sent to electricians to install on site, saving time and resources.  

“Altronix designed each panel with the exact quantity of boards required for each location and from there, we developed the wiring spreadsheets so that when these panels arrived at the building, they were labelled with what closet they were to be mounted in and what cabling went to each panel,” continued Eggers.  

“Altronix also managed the layout of the power supplies and access controllers based on the design spec so that we wouldn’t be overloading any of the power supplies.

“That is something that we worked with Altronix closely on so that when there were no issues when the system was activated.” 

Making a power play 

As the opening of the 2021 NHL season inched closer, it was time for LPC to send the now pre-configured and pre-wired Trove backplanes to UBS Arena for final installation.

The preplanning done by Altronix and LPC helped make this go smoothly. Eggers also appreciated the layout of the Altronix solutions: “Having the quantity of doors located in one enclosure and power supplies separated out in additional enclosures helped tremendously during the troubleshooting stages, making access to the equipment easier than other installations we have done in the past.” 

UBS Arena formally opened on 19 November 2021, just in time for the New York Islanders to play against the Calgary Flames.

After all was said and done, LPC deployed over 600 locks across 470 doors using approximately 50 Altronix enclosures located among 16 IDF closets.  

Eggers credits the Altronix Trove solution with saving much of the space and time that would have otherwise been required of such a large project: “Had it not been for Trove, we would have spent more engineering labour in the office trying to put this together so that we didn’t have any problems at the at the final hour.

“We also probably would have spent more hours in-house with engineers working on a solution that already does what Trove can do. To Altronix’s credit, they made my life a lot easier.”  

Since the arena’s opening, Eggers also reports that they have made use of the extra system space they requested during pre-planning, adding additional equipment and doors to the system.

“We had spare room and spare power, which made the add-ons that much easier,” he said. “There was no having to add panels to the closets because we specced out the anticipated 20% growth rate for the arena and it worked out very well.”

LPC is planning to install Altronix solutions in the Belmont Park Retail Village, a high end shopping development adjacent to UBS Arena.  

The next phase begins 

Opening in July 2024, Belmont Park Village will be a premiere shopping and dining destination occupying approximately 700,000 square feet.

Over 150 unique buildings featuring boutiques, restaurants and events will mirror the vibrant atmosphere established by UBS Arena, which is located across the street.  

Eggers estimates that the Belmont Park Village project will include 140 doors requiring 22 IDF closets that will house Altronix Trove3 and Trove2 Power and Access Integration solutions.

With a track record of successful implementations at UBS Arena and beyond, the decision to install Altronix solutions at Belmont Park Village underscores the trust and satisfaction that LPC places in the company’s products and people.