Tweet
From our Friends up at the In-Forum.
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/ind...p;section=news
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/ind...p;section=news
Seated among nearly 6,000 basketball fans in an arena so new it still had construction zones, Rick Hartzell savored what he saw and heard on this cold February night.
The athletic director at the University of Northern Iowa – seated in one of 137 courtside seats – could hear the pep band blaring the school song from the bleacher section at the other end of the court.
That’s where more than 1,000 students, dressed in purple
T-shirts, routinely jumped up and down taunting the opponent.
Hartzell glanced at the 3,200 fans on either side of the court, each one occupying a purple-colored, cushioned seat.
In January, members of the dome expansion task force approved a request for proposals from architects. An architect would create a rough design for a 7,000- to 8,000-seat arena. NDSU basketball teams would be the primary tenant.
“The next step after that would be to determine how this would be funded,” said Walaker, who has suggested splitting the funding three ways among the Fargodome, NDSU and private donors.
NDSU is now raising money to renovate the Bison Sports Arena. It has raised more than half of the $15 million approved by the state Legislature to add a basketball practice facility and weight room, renovate locker rooms and offices, and revamp the basketball arena with chair-back seating and suites.
“We are designing the Bison Sports Arena as if the dome arena may not happen,” Taylor said. “But it’s such a flexible design, we could certainly cut some costs if an arena became a reality.”
Taylor said donations for the Bison Sports Arena have been personal-type gifts. He said the school would look for corporate money – with possible naming rights – for a new arena.
“The BSA project is so important to all of our student-athletes,” Taylor said. “But if there is an arena, it would certainly ease the pressure for track, wrestling and other sports.
“With an arena, everybody wins. We would love it.”
The athletic director at the University of Northern Iowa – seated in one of 137 courtside seats – could hear the pep band blaring the school song from the bleacher section at the other end of the court.
That’s where more than 1,000 students, dressed in purple
T-shirts, routinely jumped up and down taunting the opponent.
Hartzell glanced at the 3,200 fans on either side of the court, each one occupying a purple-colored, cushioned seat.
In January, members of the dome expansion task force approved a request for proposals from architects. An architect would create a rough design for a 7,000- to 8,000-seat arena. NDSU basketball teams would be the primary tenant.
“The next step after that would be to determine how this would be funded,” said Walaker, who has suggested splitting the funding three ways among the Fargodome, NDSU and private donors.
NDSU is now raising money to renovate the Bison Sports Arena. It has raised more than half of the $15 million approved by the state Legislature to add a basketball practice facility and weight room, renovate locker rooms and offices, and revamp the basketball arena with chair-back seating and suites.
“We are designing the Bison Sports Arena as if the dome arena may not happen,” Taylor said. “But it’s such a flexible design, we could certainly cut some costs if an arena became a reality.”
Taylor said donations for the Bison Sports Arena have been personal-type gifts. He said the school would look for corporate money – with possible naming rights – for a new arena.
“The BSA project is so important to all of our student-athletes,” Taylor said. “But if there is an arena, it would certainly ease the pressure for track, wrestling and other sports.
“With an arena, everybody wins. We would love it.”