The University's team effort to build a new arena honoring the success of the Cavaliers on the basketball court is moving forward into the planning stages as fund-raising continues.
The athletics department has raised approximately $23 million for the new arena, about 20 percent of the estimated $125 million total cost.
Fund-raising for the project got a large boost from a $20 million anonymous donation received this summer. The entire cost of the building must be raised privately without the help of state or academic funds.
"Currently the project is in two phases," said Barry Parkhill, a former Cavalier basketball star and the current associate athletics director for development. "We need to raise about half of the money so then we can dig the hole and start building."
This summer, the University hired Charlottesville-based architectural firm VMDO to design the new arena. The facility will rival the larger and newer basketball stadiums in the ACC with a projected attendance of 12,000 to 15,000.
The new arena will be located on Massie Road across from University Hall. It will house the men's and women's basketball teams and will include practice facilities and offices.
The project is slated for full completion by the fall of 2006 and is moving according to schedule.
The University's administration has made building the new arena a priority since the renovation and expansion of Scott Stadium at the Carl W. Smith Center was completed last year.
"University Hall was built in the mid-'60s and not well designed. It is too small, and there is no way to add enough seats, especially for students," University President John T. Casteen III said. "It has proved difficult to remodel and renovate."
The facility will be designed as a convertible space usable for "concerts, conferences, convocations and speeches by national leaders," Casteen said.
Built in 1965, University Hall is the smallest basketball stadium in use in the ACC. It has survived losing seasons, failing roof supports and the persistent cries of critics who say it is too small, poorly lit and hard to convert to non-basketball uses.
The University has not yet decided how University Hall will be used after the completion of the new arena.
"We need recreational sports space of a kind that University Hall can provide, and we need a site or venue for indoor concerts and other major non-basketball events that can be designed into a new facility," Casteen said.
"We are very hopeful for success on raising funds for this project now that we have hired an architect so we can show soon what the building will look like to prospective donors," Parkhill said.
According to VMDO's principal architect, Robert M. Moje, the firm has a large team currently working on feasibility studies and looking into possible uses for the new arena. No plans, however, have been drawn so early in the planning process.
"Right now we're trying to pin down impacts and choices like traffic impact and whether we need to change the road patterns in the area or the impact on storm water drainage, or how many people are likely to show up for different types of events," Moje said.
Moje added that a focus group will be created to collect student input on the new arena, particularly on the issue of student seating. Last year, Student Council passed a resolution requesting an opportunity for students to voice their suggestions on the design of the new arena.
"Student seating is one of the important factors in our design because it contributes to the overall home-court advantage in game situations," Moje said.
The new arena currently is unnamed, although it may be named to honor a University figure or the giver of a large donation.
"Right now a ballpark figure to get a name on the building would be $50 million, and I don't know of any donations of this size on the table," Parkhill said.
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