Tech working out details on new basketball arena

“The dome will still be there,” said Brad Park, lead designer with the Kansas City-based Populus architecture firm that won the bid to design Tech’s replacement facility. “We are going to retain the roof and a few existing components. We’re tearing out the seating bowl and concessions and more. I don’t think people will recognize it as the arena that it is now.

“There’s no doubt in our mind, [the domed roof] is the heart of the project, the tradition, the essence of Georgia Tech basketball and so many commencements. We want that to be recognizable, and a significant part of our design.”

If it seems strange that Tech would move forward in a tepid economy on such a large project so soon after adding the Zelnak practice facility and the Henry F. McCamish Plaza at the corner of 10th and Fowler Streets, chalk it up to economic stimulus.

McCamish, a 1950 Tech honors graduate who made a handsome living in life insurance and founded the McCamish Group and McCamish Systems, made a donation to jump-start this process.

“All of this came about from the fact that we received a $15 million gift that was specifically earmarked for this project to be used only in the planning and execution of an enhancement of Alexander Memorial Coliseum,” Tech associate athletics director/public relations Wayne Hogan said. “So all of a sudden we’ve got a golden opportunity laid upon us. The planning stage kicked in with that seed money.

“The Institute is deeply involved [and owns the building] ... and sees this as a very high-profile entry to the campus that sits at the busiest interstate highway in the United States probably. Athletics is really interested in the inside and what we consider an opportunity to enhance the viewing experience.”

School officials said renderings of an upgraded Tech arena that can be found on the Internet are not reflective of what will be the final product. Some or all of those drawings were made by an architecture firm that did not win the bid.

Hesitant as Hogan and others are to talk specifics, there is some insight as to what’s coming.

Seating capacity is not likely to change much from the present count of slightly less than 10,000 in part because expanding capacity would necessitate the addition of parking. That is not an option given constraints on the arena site. The distribution of seats, however, has not been resolved. The number of suites — presently at about a dozen — and possible club seating are still being studied and discussed.

Concourses will be, as has become the trend in arenas and stadiums, larger.

The above-ground profiles of the arena will look considerably different, “but you’ll be able to see the dome,” Park said.

Sightlines, scoreboards and seating around the floor, etc., will all change significantly.

“We’re interested in the fan experience, sightlines and comfort issues,” Hogan said. “In the designs being discussed ... as [athletics director] Dan [Radakovich] likes to say, ‘As you stand in the middle of the floor and look 360 degrees around the building when all of this is done no matter what [design] option is chosen, it’s not going to look anything like it currently does.’”

There’s a lot of work to be done before site work starts.

The “replacement facility” has not been approved by school and athletics department officials, let alone the state Board of Regents.

Financing beyond McCamish’s donation is expected to be generated largely by future revenues, which Tech officials hope to increase by using the arena for more than basketball games and graduation ceremonies. That means Tech will borrow money in addition to soliciting arena donations.

“We have a general idea what the building will look like,” Park said. “We’re approaching the end of the schematic phase where you set out what it will look like. We had a session [last] Tuesday with the planning and design commission. We don’t have a set of drawings that says here it is, go and build it.”

Populus has done this before. The firm — formerly known as HOK Sports — designed Philips Arena, is working on possible renovations to the Georgia Dome and had one of its arenas open in Wichita, Kan., earlier this year.

This fall, arenas designed by Populus will open in Louisville (a 22,000-seat multi-purpose facility that will house the Cardinals’ men’s and women’s basketball teams), Orlando (NBA’s Magic) and Pittsburgh (NHL’s Penguins).

“We’re trying to make the building as flexible as possible with an eye toward fan comfort and amenities, and third with a bullet is the issue of sustainability. That’s an issue that’s consistent in architecture,” Park said. “There will be more green-design principles, trying to make sure we’re using green materials when we can.

“We’re looking at ... good design practices in general, how we would recycle content from the site, energy-efficient materials, using materials that don’t off-gas like carpets. I think we will probably be a little larger than the footprint that’s there. We have a pretty modest budget.”

Hogan said, “We’ve polled our season-ticket holders about, ‘If we did this or that, would you use it? If we did these kinds of seats, would you be interested?’ ... Just general questions to get a feel for our patrons because we want to know what they think is important.

“It’s got to be endorsed by everyone at Georgia Tech right up to the president. I assume that will happen in the fall, and at that point if we get the Regents’ approval then it becomes a full-fledged project. Best guess is that this would start at the conclusion of the next basketball season, spring of 2011.”