Gophers explore renovations to Williams Arena or new basketball venue

Donate To GopherHole


Who will pay for it? Not going to happen anytime soon.
 

www.startribune.com

University considers Williams Arena renovation, contracting with Populous

Athletic director Mark Coyle gave no timetable for the process but said talks have increased since last year about changes to the Barn, which was built in 1928.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com


The Gophers signed a contract in October with Populous, a Kansas City-based architectural firm, to explore renovation for Williams Arena/Maturi Pavilion or the construction of a new facility, according to the contract sent to the Star Tribune.

Populous helped with the design process for the Gophers' football home at Huntington Bank Stadium (formerly TCF Bank Stadium) that opened in 2009.
Click to expand...
 

www.startribune.com

Time for Williams Arena teardown? Not if we get more Gophers games like Tuesday’s.

The Barn turned electric Tuesday night during the Gophers victory over Michigan State, and that was when it was half-full. The place can still rock.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Scoggins adds his two cents:

The dusty and cramped old Barn felt alive for a night, awoken from its slumber. Not fully awake. Too many seats remain unoccupied to understand completely why longtime Williams Arena lovers cling to it with such reverence and romanticism.

Tuesday night provided a glimpse of it though, a snapshot of what it used to be and still can be — and, boy, was it fun.

Williams Arena became a home-court advantage again, boisterous and disruptive in a way that played a factor in the Gophers' 59-56 win over Michigan State.

Big games have been too infrequent for the men's program for too many seasons, but this one qualified as a big game and Ben Johnson's team and the Barn rose to the occasion.

The student section was packed from front to back, aided by a jersey giveaway, which was a smart promotion because those young folks had a blast and made a difference with their voices.
Click to expand...
 


Coyle chimes in:

Future of the Barn?​

Before the NCAA settlement and revenue sharing expenses came into sharper focus this summer, the Gophers started to explore potential renovations to Williams Arena, and even replacing the 96-year-old basketball venue. Coyle said the U has had a handful of meetings with outside consultants on options but is still gathering information.

“When we played UConn last year in women’s basketball, when we played Iowa in women’s basketball, the building was sold out, right?” Coyle said. “And nobody complained about the Barn, right? If we win, if we have success; we give people a reason to come to the building and be a part of that. Obviously, we had Paige (Bueckers) and Caitlin (Clark), but if we continue to have success with both our basketball programs, I feel like we’re going to have people (who) will be there.

“But no decisions have been made,” Coyle added about the future of the Barn. “And I promise we will communicate that with people before we do anything.”

www.twincities.com

Gophers AD Mark Coyle discusses financial pinch, prospect of cutting sports, future of The Barn

“t’s still bizarre the amount of changes going on right now (in college athletics),” Coyle said. “I mean, it’s crazy.”
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com

Go Gophers!!
 

The UofM never seems to have much luck with timing. When they signed the contract back in October with Populous they had no idea what was coming out of the House vs NCAA litigation. At that time they were looking at the new football tv contract with all that additional revenue. Here we are 10 months later and now we need to payout $21M in revenue sharing to players. On top of that, the agreement calls for over 200+ additional scholarships across all sports with the concept of walk-ons (unpaid) gone. The football program alone is going from 85 to 105 scholarships. Welcome to Coyle's new world. In less you get the state to kick in separately from the UofM budget, good luck getting a $200M+ arena built in this economic climate.
 
Last edited:

Per Marcus Q&A:


Q: Are you still looking into renovations to Williams Arena with revenue sharing added to the budget?
A: We’re not tearing down Williams right now. We still need to gather information. Obviously, I have a brand new president. I want to make sure we have conversations with President [Rebecca] Cunningham because we have to be in alignment with her. … If you talk to [women’s hoops coach Dawn Plitzuweit and men’s coach Ben Johnson], it’s a great place. I do think there’s things we can do to make the experience better for our fans and for our student-athletes. But with the revenue share, we’ve got to focus on some other things first.

www.startribune.com

Gophers AD Mark Coyle says department might need a GM role to oversee ‘cap management’

Critical decisions are coming for Mark Coyle and his staff as they determine how much money each athlete should make under the new revenue-sharing model next year.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 

I am a sports facilities junky as well as a Williams Arena LOVER, however I do believe it’s time to maybe look at other options. I do NOT want to take Williams down though. So my plan would always be to keep it. Maybe play a couple of games there, or volleyball. IF the U could build something on campus I would not be opposed to a new arena. I look at Baylor. Their new arena holds 8,000. I would like the U to build something between 8-10 thousand. Make it a full arena. Also with the idea that St. Thomas is building a new arena it will be interesting to see if kids gravitate towards new.
 



Williams arena needs to be renovated at least, the bathrooms and concourses suck. The barn lofts are not good. Need better TV's and court area seats that are larger with ways to generate additional revenue.
 

Belzx009 said:
I am a sports facilities junky as well as a Williams Arena LOVER, however I do believe it’s time to maybe look at other options. I do NOT want to take Williams down though. So my plan would always be to keep it. Maybe play a couple of games there, or volleyball. IF the U could build something on campus I would not be opposed to a new arena. I look at Baylor. Their new arena holds 8,000. I would like the U to build something between 8-10 thousand. Make it a full arena. Also with the idea that St. Thomas is building a new arena it will be interesting to see if kids gravitate towards new.
Click to expand...
I love Williams "The Barn" as well, since there is a lot of nostalgia with that building. However, there is no way they are going to keep it and build another arena somewhere else. The unfortunate thing is if you talk to a facilities person they are going to tell you all the hidden costs associated with maintaining a 100 yr old structure that big that don't get talked about. So for all those hidden costs alone I don't think you can keep it around just because everyone loves the building.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom