The University of Iowa is moving ahead with the planning process to upgrade Carver-Hawkeye Arena after getting approval from the Board of Regents.
UI Vice President Rod Lehnertz says the arena built in 1983 is the only one in the Big Ten that hasn’t been renovated. “It is time to modernize the building and also address the needs of our patrons, the fans that come and experience it both for athletics and university events,” he says.
The building is home to men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s wrestling, gymnastics and the athletic department administration. It also hosts university events, concerts and commencements. Lehnertz says the cost of the 50 to 70 million-dollar project will include air conditioning. “We will, as a part of the design process for this project, will be designing and exploring the options for effective cooling of the building,” he says.
Lehnertz says many of the upgrades are for fan comfort, including meeting the Americans with Disabilities Act standards. “It is also a building that has almost by today’s standards no food service or space for fans to have refreshments and others by today’s standards,” Lehnertz says.
He says they also want to add some things to create more revenue from events. “It was built shortly before the industry began to see premium seating clubs, those kinds of spaces. We have virtually none of that offered in Carver Hawkeye Arena, and it’s important for the future of those teams in the athletic department,” Lehnertz says.
University of Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz told the Regents they are looking to get things going soon.”We wanted to ensure that we were in a good place in terms of our fundraising efforts since this will be philanthropically supported. and before we had an opportunity to bring it to you all. So we’re significantly down that path. We’re north of, already north of 40 million in written commitments towards the project. So we feel like we’re in a good place there,” Goetz says.
Lehnerts says the approval allows them to start seeking consultants and the planning for the upgrades could be completed yet this year.