<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1Snbe5_0vKwZi8n00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1Snbe5_0vKwZi8n00" width="1182" height="619" >CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina has identified at least six possible options for consideration in its decade-long pursuit of replacing or fully renovating the Smith Center, the Tar Heels' home arena for men's basketball across nearly 40 years.The potential sites include two off-campus locations, according to a <a href="https://chancellor.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1276/2024/09/UNC-Chapel-Hill-Physical-Master-Plan-Working-Group-Report.pdf">final report produced by the school's Physical Master Plan Working Group</a>, and all can fit an arena space with a 16,000-seat capacity. New UNC chancellor Lee Roberts commissioned the group, whose recommendations were due last month and just became public.The group addresses the Smith Center's future in the final of five items, ranging from student housing data to strategic property acquisitions, at the end of the new 13-page report. The six site options and courses of action listed in the report are distinguished as:— Bowles Parking Lot (per the report: non-traditional training layout needed, requires 620 parking spaces to be replaced, existing storm sewer and chilled water line on site).— Odum Village (per the report: conflicts with current campus master plan land use, in terms of academic, research and ecological restoration).— Smith Center Renovation (per the report: Tar Heels to play off-site during construction, requires new natatorium to accommodate a men's and women's training facility).— Smith Center Replacement (per the report: Tar Heels to play off-site during construction, requires new natatorium to accommodate a men's and women's training facility).— Friday Center (per the report: off campus, not within suitable walking distance, requires structured parking to accommodate arena and relocation of all existing uses on site).— Carolina North (per the report: off campus, not within suitable walking distance, further infrastructure study required to quantify costs and schedule for the 250-acre research and academic property)."An arena committee has been working with multiple consultants over the past six months to evaluate multiple options for the Smith Center," the new report says, "including renovation of the existing arena or new construction at locations both on and off campus. Committee work has included analysis of costs, future earnings, site conditions and stakeholder input. The Smith Center discussion centered on eight options that would create a dynamic environment that supports the planned athletic uses in an economically sustainable fashion."Cost estimates and project timelines aren't contained in the report. All possible sites can handle postgame traffic within 60 minutes without new roadways, the report says, and parking for the on-campus sites can be accommodated with existing lots and garages. The report says off-campus sites "assume that the university will provide bus transit for on-campus students for each game (3,000 max per game)."The Smith Center was considered a state-of-the-art facility when it was completed in January 1986. Thirty-eight years later, the "Dean Dome" remains a college basketball beacon on the hill, though it lacks the amenities that define modern arenas.In 2013, an architecture firm provided UNC with concept renderings that included a renovated Smith Center, and a new on-campus arena adjacent to the current venue in the Bowles parking lot footprint. Those concepts included reductions of 20-25 percent from the Smith Center's current 21,750-seat capacity to make room for luxury suites and premium seating. Those plans were put on hold during an NCAA investigation as UNC focused instead on an Olympic sports project that included new stadiums for soccer, lacrosse and field hockey, and a new outdoor track and field complex in addition to a new football practice complex.And now that those projects have been completed, the interest and necessity in determining a plan for the men's basketball arena has increased. UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham commissioned a working group to explore Smith Center renovation options in addition to considering the possibility of a new arena. That committee has included representation from both men's and women's basketball staffs, the Board of Trustees and the Rams Club, according to sources familiar with the matter."We actually had a plan 10 years ago that we could have acted upon, and we didn't," Cunningham told Inside Carolina in February. "This is, quite frankly, another iteration of looking at our future and saying, 'OK, where are we today? Where do we think we need to be in the future? And what's the best path to get there?' And that includes a basketball study. The other night (against Duke), we had 21,000 people with a single concourse. It was a great atmosphere, but some of the amenities and services that you'd like to provide an elite program, we just can't do that right now, because of the facility that we have. So how can we continue to make sure that we remain elite?"Cunningham has said that particular working group's mission is to identify what could be done from a renovation standpoint at the Smith Center, what it would take to build a new arena, and where that new arena could be built. Cunningham has noted that UNC was constricted by the current Smith Center site due to significant rock on the west side of the facility, and the expense involved with that issue is why the arena doesn't have two concourses encircling the court, which is named after Roy Williams.The 2013 conceptual design included premium club seating behind the west basketball goal, but above the lower level seats, thereby eliminating the upper-level seats on that side of the arena. There was a second premium club seating area suggested for the north side of the arena on the main concourse level."What the thought was 10 years ago was could you take some of your least desirable seats and make those very desirable?" Cunningham said in February. "Dayton did it with their 'Flight Deck' that they have above one of the end zones of basketball."Dayton wrapped up a three-year, $76 million renovation of UD Arena in 2019. The project increased the arena's footprint and therefore the facility's size by 25 percent and added two concourse clubs with 244 premium seats, while also expanding the Flight Deck, a luxury seating area that hangs over the lower-level seats behind one of the baskets.Cunningham's working group has explored on- and off-campus locations for a new arena, according to sources. The possibility of housing men's and women's basketball together in one arena has been among the considerations, along with increasing revenue by hosting non-UNC basketball events there, according to a sources."It is all still very much a work in progress," UNC Board of Trustees chair John Preyer told Inside Carolina in January. "There is obviously a strong constituency that would like to see the current location stay the same, but what is crystal clear is that we need more suites and a greater fan experience leading up to the game and a greater utilization of our resources in a way that benefits the game day and fan experience."One recommendation that I found especially interesting did not come from this working group but from someone who is a fan and suggested you take out an end zone section of the Dean Dome, build luxury suites there, and in effect, have a tailgate in that area before the game, starting at lunchtime before an evening game, show old game videos, have former players there and make it an experience to go to the game. We're a long way from that right now. I also don't think you can completely rule out a new facility in a new location. Obviously, the cost of that is a considerable challenge but needs to be looked at."One pivotal discussion point, according to sources, is the impact of renovations or a new arena on the approximately 5,500 private seat licenses that remain from the original financing campaign that funded the Smith Center's build in the 1980s. Those private seat licenses were sold with two generations of Tar Heel supporters in mind, posing a challenging topic to address.UNC last renovated the Smith Center in 2016. That $4.2-million project included a separate locker room for players, coaches, and staff, new shower facilities and an updated players' lounge. Other additions included a nutrition station, therapy areas, a media room and team meeting space.Greg Barnes of Inside Carolina contributed to this report.</div></body>

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UNC Identifies Potential Sites for Future Basketball Home

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina has identified at least six possible options for consideration in its decade-long pursuit of replacing or fully renovating the Smith Center, the Tar Heels' home arena for men's basketball across nearly 40 years. The potential sites include two off-campus locations, according to a...

UNC Identifies Potential Sites for Future Basketball Home

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