NEWS UPDATE: UNC exploring A Star Player Renovations Or Potential New Arena Per Report
Since 1986, the North Carolina Tar Heels basketball program has called the Dean E. Smith Center home. However, supporters have expressed optimism for updates or even a new arena to accommodate the student body over time.
And their hope might come true.
In addition to looking into the potential of building a new arena, athletic director Bubba Cunningham has reportedly commissioned a working group to investigate Smith Center rehabilitation possibilities, according to Greg Barnes of Inside Carolina.
That’s a significant first step toward possibly obtaining a new arena or some improvements. What Barnes wrote in his report is as follows:
According to Cunningham, the goal of the working group is to determine what can be done to renovate the Smith Center, how much it would cost to construct a new arena, and possible locations for that arena. Cunningham pointed out that the Smith Center site limited UNC because of substantial rock on the west side of the building, and the cost of fixing that problem is the reason the arena lacks two concourses surrounding the court.
A key topic of debate, according to a source, is how remodeling or building a new arena will affect the 5,500 or so private seat licenses that are left over from the original fundraising campaign that built the Smith Center in the 1980s. Selling those private seat licenses with two generations of Tar Heel supporters in mind makes this a potentially difficult subject to discuss.
This is the second time since 2013 that a working group for a project has been commissioned; the first time was in the fall of that year, and UNC received renderings from an architecture group.
The group is reportedly looking at locations for a new arena, both on and off campus, for this project. Although it’s early on, this is a fantastic starting point for people who desire improvements or a new arena.
