Change of scenery

This weekend monster trucks return to the Glass City

It s called Monster Jam it s a place where the big road warrior monster trucks will be smashing cars vans and anything that gets in the way

But first the arena staff needs to transform the venue

The work started literally on Sunday night after the Walleye finished their home game against the Charlotte Checkers

The arena staff have done a really nice job booking events when the Walleye aren t playing In recent weeks we ve seen REO Speedwagon 38 Special and Styx Rascall Flats and Darius Rucker play at the arena In April Tyler Perry brings his character Madea while Carrie Underwood and Sir Elton John perform on back-to-back nights April 24-25

Less than 48 hours after Charlotte snuck out with a 2-1 win over the fish crews have already dropped off some of the cars and vans that will be part of this weekend s Monster Jam

Inside the arena crew doesn t actually take out the ice Instead they just put a floor cover over it so you can drive on it

Tom Staudt who manages the arena crew is working round the clock to get the arena ready for the monstrer trucks They hauled plywood Tuesday that will eventually go on top of the floor

The ice floor we covered the ice yesterday Staudt said Today we re bringing in plywood out from back in storeage We ll completely cover the floor in plastic put plywood over that and then dump the dirt on top of that for the Monster Jam

We ve only melted the ice for one event since the arena opened up and that was for the circus Staudt added Every other concert we ve had so far the ice underneath stays with whatever is going on

Stadt and his crew will haul the dirt in on Thursday and then be ready to go when the doors open Friday night

The first Monster Jam is scheduled for 7 30 p m Friday There are two shows Saturday and one Sunday afternoon