Rose is blooming

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In fall 2010, students will no longer have to walk down a dank stairwell and have to sit on a makeshift section of bleachers to get rowdy.

A $21.5 million Rose Arena renovation was approved in December by the CMU Board of Trustees. It will include changing the arrangement of the arena from its box-shape seating setup to a bowl shape and will maintain its seating capacity at around 5,200.

The arena’s renovations are not just for the athletic program, however. It is expected to become a key building for the entire university.

“It’s more than just a sports arena,” said Athletics Director Dave Heeke. “We’re working with all the groups on campus to develop a university events center that has the ability to host large events, certainly our athletic events. But also host those other events that are important to the campus community.”

Central Michigan is in the process of selecting an architectural and engineering firm and then will hire a contractor for the construction itself.

Currently, the renovations will not require more money from students or the university.

“We’re committed to raise all $21.5 million privately,” Heeke said. “We’re going to go out and ask alumni, friends and others to contribute to the project.”

Revamping

The project will include three main renovations – a remolding of the inside, an addition of a practice facility and a new atrium entrance.

The inside remodeling will be extensive. The construction will be expanded into the hallway outside the arena that currently houses hall of fame plaques and other trophies. This hallway, currently on the south side of the arena, will extend to a full circle around the arena.

Instead of just housing the plaques, trophies and two restrooms, the hallway will also include concessions and the stands will overhang above.

To get into the arena, people will walk through tunnel walkways into the arena, much like the Palace of Auburn Hills. The arena’s new bowl-shaped design will feature new seats, better acoustics and a few retractable seating sections which will allow more practice space for teams and an easier setup for events, such as concerts. The facility also will be air conditioned.

The Rose Rowdies student section – currently located in the small section of bleachers on the east side – will be located in another close location, Heeke said.

“We’re looking at different options where we could place the students to give them prime seating location and an area that they can be really involved in the game,” he said.

The new glass atrium entrance and will be located at the east side of the arena will increase the facility’s recognizability to outsiders. The arena currently features two main entrances, but both are located on opposite ends and require a walk through several nondescript hallways.

The atrium entrance will feature a hall of fame, a section to show the university’s tribal relationship, ticket office and possibly a novelty store.

“There’s (currently) no place that says, ‘hey, this is Central Michigan University athletics’ and explores and presents some of the historical, significant points to the program,” Heeke said.

The renovation also will include the addition of a practice facility built onto the northwest side of the arena. The new gym will give the volleyball and basketball teams a place to practice when events are taking place on the main floor.

Women’s basketball coach Sue Guevara said the facility also will allow more available practice times.

Robert Ebner, director of university events, said the practice facility will be an asset when the university hosts large events, such as concerts and graduation.

“The practice gym will make a lot of difference,” he said. “It’s one of the things I pushed for right away.”

Besides the three main additions, other facilities in Rose will stay the same. The wrestling room, the gymnastics practice facility (which was updated in summer 2007), team locker rooms, administrative offices and everything else in the arena will remain untouched.

“The focus on this project is not individual sports teams,” Heeke said. “It’s how can we, as a campus community, build a better events center.”

A Long Time Coming

The issue of whether to renovate or to build a new arena has been an ongoing discussion for years.

In 2000-2001, a new arena was proposed that would stand alone next to the Kelly/Shorts Stadium and the Indoor Athletic Complex, which currently houses parking lot 64. The proposed arena would have housed 9,000-10,000 people and had a price tag of about $40 million.

“It was a facility that was estimated at 40 that would probably today cost $60 to 70 million,” Heeke said. “That price tag is too big for this campus under the current economic times.”

The hopes for the arena would be that it could not only house all the sports played on courts and also offices, but also possibly host large concerts and condense graduation to just one session. But a capacity of 20,000 would likely be needed to house graduation. Heeke said the concert idea also didn’t make sense because of the university’s location.

“The mega show, the major concerts is not a business we want to be in,” Heeke said.

However, the new arena is big enough to host smaller concerts that can hold more than Finch Fieldhouse’s 3,000, but smaller than a large arena, such as Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena.

Once the idea of a new arena was found to be unoptimal, the university hired a firm to estimate its options with budget of about $20 million.

While a large, stand-alone arena would be able to host large events, it would have also forced CMU to fill 10,000 seats for its athletic events.

“I’m excited about an intimate arena of 5,000-6,000 seats that may not be the biggest arena for basketball, but it’s going to be the best environment,” Heeke said. “I think it will be the best place to watch basketball in the state of Michigan.”

sports@cm-life.com