Sacramento breaks ground on new Kings arena

Dozens of construction workers stood in the background Wednesday as the Sacramento Kings officially kicked off construction of their $477million downtown arena.

The workers will take back center stage soon enough. With the groundbreaking ceremonies out of the way, and much of Downtown Plaza reduced to bare earth, the Kings and their general contractor will resume their all-out sprint to get the arena ready for the start of the 2016-17 basketball season. The on-site workforce, which totals around 60 employees now, will grow to a peak of 600 before the building opens.

Kings officials said they’re confident the project will be completed on time. “We’re still more than on pace for October ’16,” said team President Chris Granger after the ceremony.