Tim Leiweke strongly believes the COVID-19 pandemic will be under control by the time UBS Arena at Belmont Park opens. Still, the CEO of arena development company Oak View Group said the Islanders’ new home is incorporating enhanced health and safety protocols.
“As we go on, on this small little planet we live on, we’ll have more of these types of issues, more viruses,” Leiweke told Newsday. “We dedicated ourselves in the design of the building to be very focused on wellness and health. We are joining the Wellness Institute [The International WELL Building Institute, the world’s leading certification body for healthy buildings] to be certified and hitting the standards necessary to make sure people are confident when they go into the building.