so, the original story said something like "we have the money." Where is that coming from?
As far as I know, the fund-raising for the Athletes Village is still 30 or 40 million short of its goal. So where do they get the money to renovate Williams? Unless some mystery donor is making a big gift (unlikely), the money would have to come from other existing sources.
On the arena itself, if they had the money, my preference would be to keep the shell of the building, gut everything on the inside, and re-do it from scratch. Maybe something like the Pentagon in Sioux Falls - with an old-time feel - but modern amenities. As long as you kept the raised floor, I think most people would accept it. Sure, concourses and bathroom upgrades would be nice, but the upper deck is still pretty wonky, and there are a lot of obstructed-view seats.
I would rather have 10-11,000 good seats than the current setup. A lot of those upper-deck seats are empty most games, anyway, so just re-design the upper deck, cut down the seating a little bit, and make the sight lines better.