SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Savannah is moving ahead with its plans to construct a $140 million arena.

The Savannah City Council recently awarded AECOM Hunt an $11.2 million construction management contract for the planned facility.

AECOM will manage construction of the planned 269,000-sq.-ft. arena, The Savannah Morning News reported.

It's expected to contain about 9,000 seats, 12 luxury suites, and 450 club seats.

The construction manager is expected to work closely with the architectural team during the design and construction phases of the arena to bring the project in on schedule and within budget.

Construction of the arena is expected to begin next year and be completed in the summer of 2021.

In June, international design firm Perkins+Will was hired by the city to design the new arena. The Savannah City Council approved the $8.8 million design contract.

“In addition to our sports practice, we also have a nationally recognized urban design and landscape practice,” David Dymecki, principal and managing director in Perkins+Will's Atlanta office, said at the time. “We feel that would be a strong benefit to this project given economic drivers, the mixed-use opportunities here in this city.”

Ice hockey is expected to be a key component of Savannah's arena. The PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., is one of the design firm's projects that is very similar in scale to the type of arena being planned for Savannah, Don Dethlefs, Sports, Recreation, and Entertainment Practice leader with the firm, has said.

The Pennsylvania arena seats more than 10,000 for concerts and more than 8,500 for Lehigh Valley Phantoms professional hockey games.

“The mixed-use project included parking garages, office buildings, sports, restaurants, which — when you get done with this — is really going to be similar to what you have where there is a whole area of redevelopment, which we're excited about,” Dethlefs said. “Not every arena does that and that's really a great opportunity for us and the city and the adjacent neighborhoods.”

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