This was in the CR Gazette today.
------------------------------
Carver redesign might top $40 million
By Scott Dochterman
The Gazette
IOWA CITY — Carver-Hawkeye Arena’s redesign could cost more than $40 million, Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta said this week.
Original cost estimates were $25 million to $40 million, and Barta said the final tally could go as high as $45 million. He hopes to raise $15 million in private donations for the project.
‘‘Right now we’re still going back and forth to decide can we still afford something at $40-42 (million),’’ Barta said. ‘‘Once we go to the Board of Regents to ask for permission, we need to have all of those answers well in hand.’’
No timetable has been set. Given regents’ approval, Barta hopes for completion by the 2009-2010 basketball season but concedes the following season might be more realistic.
‘‘It’s a very broad range at this point,’’ he said. ‘‘And we don’t even have permission to proceed.’’
Preliminary plans continue to bounce — primarily because of cost — between Barta and Iowa City’s Neumann Monson Architects, so designs are not finished. Barta said the bowl will stay similar in structure, but the 25-yearold arena will look vastly different from the court upon completion.
Iowa plans to add club areas, one of which Barta said will have a ‘‘sports bar-type feel’’ at the top part of the arena. It will include several big-screen televisions and a coat room. Below the gold railing, designs call for padded chairback seating with cupholders at courtside. That group will have its own club area.
The arena won’t include luxury seating, Barta said.
‘‘(The original designers’) goal was to make this a great arena, but not have it be looming high, so they built it in a ravine,’’ said Barta, who praised the original project. ‘‘It served that purpose well. The downside to the way we built the arena is there’s no concourse level, so we are limited in what we can do.’’ Barta said plans call for reseating in at least parts of the arena, according to financial- giving levels and long-term season-ticket holders. Barta said his staff will alert season-ticket holders well in advance about reseating plans.
Barta said the renovated arena will include at least one high-speed elevator. No decision has been made regarding alcohol sales, he said. The project’s primary purpose has little to do with arena cosmetics, however. The men’s and women’s basketball teams and volleyball squad practice at the arena. Wrestling and gymnastics competitions are held there, as are university graduations and other events. That often results in scheduling challenges.
‘‘The No. 1 reason we’re looking at this is we have to have more practice space,’’ Barta said. ‘‘If we did nothing else, we will have to build a practice facility. So that’s what’s driving this. That’s what got this all started.’’
The locker rooms, offices and weight rooms will be renovated. Weight room space now stands at 1,800 square feet and Barta said that needs to expand from 8,000 to 9,000 square feet.
The arena was built in 1983 at a cost of $18.4 million.
• Contact the writer: (319) 339-3169 or scott.dochterman@gazette communications.com
------------------------------
Carver redesign might top $40 million
By Scott Dochterman
The Gazette
IOWA CITY — Carver-Hawkeye Arena’s redesign could cost more than $40 million, Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta said this week.
Original cost estimates were $25 million to $40 million, and Barta said the final tally could go as high as $45 million. He hopes to raise $15 million in private donations for the project.
‘‘Right now we’re still going back and forth to decide can we still afford something at $40-42 (million),’’ Barta said. ‘‘Once we go to the Board of Regents to ask for permission, we need to have all of those answers well in hand.’’
No timetable has been set. Given regents’ approval, Barta hopes for completion by the 2009-2010 basketball season but concedes the following season might be more realistic.
‘‘It’s a very broad range at this point,’’ he said. ‘‘And we don’t even have permission to proceed.’’
Preliminary plans continue to bounce — primarily because of cost — between Barta and Iowa City’s Neumann Monson Architects, so designs are not finished. Barta said the bowl will stay similar in structure, but the 25-yearold arena will look vastly different from the court upon completion.
Iowa plans to add club areas, one of which Barta said will have a ‘‘sports bar-type feel’’ at the top part of the arena. It will include several big-screen televisions and a coat room. Below the gold railing, designs call for padded chairback seating with cupholders at courtside. That group will have its own club area.
The arena won’t include luxury seating, Barta said.
‘‘(The original designers’) goal was to make this a great arena, but not have it be looming high, so they built it in a ravine,’’ said Barta, who praised the original project. ‘‘It served that purpose well. The downside to the way we built the arena is there’s no concourse level, so we are limited in what we can do.’’ Barta said plans call for reseating in at least parts of the arena, according to financial- giving levels and long-term season-ticket holders. Barta said his staff will alert season-ticket holders well in advance about reseating plans.
Barta said the renovated arena will include at least one high-speed elevator. No decision has been made regarding alcohol sales, he said. The project’s primary purpose has little to do with arena cosmetics, however. The men’s and women’s basketball teams and volleyball squad practice at the arena. Wrestling and gymnastics competitions are held there, as are university graduations and other events. That often results in scheduling challenges.
‘‘The No. 1 reason we’re looking at this is we have to have more practice space,’’ Barta said. ‘‘If we did nothing else, we will have to build a practice facility. So that’s what’s driving this. That’s what got this all started.’’
The locker rooms, offices and weight rooms will be renovated. Weight room space now stands at 1,800 square feet and Barta said that needs to expand from 8,000 to 9,000 square feet.
The arena was built in 1983 at a cost of $18.4 million.
• Contact the writer: (319) 339-3169 or scott.dochterman@gazette communications.com
Last edited by a moderator:
