ATHENS — Stegeman Coliseum is not about to fall down, but Georgia is putting a lot more work – and money – into the 60-year-old arena that serves as a home for men’s and women’s basketball and gymnastics.
Falling concrete that shut down the building March 2 has brought in two engineering firms, hundreds of construction workers and 43 truckloads of scaffolding to make repairs to the vast interior ceiling of the 185-foot high structure. Walter P. Moore Engineering issued a peer-review report of assessments previously done by engineers from Wiss, Janney, Elstner and Associates and they agree that there is “no indication of structural deficiencies in the roof structure that may lead to a major failure or collapse.”
However, there continues to be cracking and spalling of concrete in the joints between the triangular precast elements that make up the roof of the building, and that’s what causing chunks of cement to fall hundreds of feet into the seating areas surrounding Stegeman Coliseum’s court.
The repairs to fix the problem are extensive and expensive as workers saw-cut concrete beams and realign hundreds of “nodes” where multiple precast joints come together. After those repairs are completed, UGA is going to add a “high density polyethylene mesh” protective barrier that will cover the entire ceiling, end-to-end, and prevent concrete spall and flaking to reach the floor.
Athletic Director Josh Brooks on Thursday could not say exactly how much the repairs are going to cost, offering only “seven figures” as a best guess. But the Bulldogs are going to add to the total after the repair work is completed.
While the entire area is filled floor-to-ceiling with scaffolding, Brooks said the Bulldogs plan to make several other improvements. Those include painting the ceiling a darker color and eventually adding an “enormous videoboard” to the eastern-most end of the arena.
“I’m one who always wants to turn a negative into a positive,” Brooks said. “I think this has really excited us and got us to thinking about the long-term future of Stegeman. So what I’ve challenged my team to do, what are the immediate things we can do to keep modernizing Stegeman.”
As for how much it’s going to cost and who will pay for it, Brooks couldn’t say exactly. Stegeman Coliseum actually is owned by the university, not the athletic association.
“We’re going to work together on this because it’s a shared building with the university,” Brooks said. “I don’t want to lock down price because there are things we’re still going through right now. But I know we’re already into it for seven figures.”
And, yes, the possibility of building a new arena was discussed and quickly dispensed with.
“Trust me, that’s the first question we would ask,” Brooks said. “An arena this size in today’s dollars, I can’t give you an exact amount, but I can tell you … it would be easily north of $200 million.”
Ironically, previous improvements that have been made to the Coliseum likely contributed to the issues with the concrete. Gwynne Darden, an architect who also serves as UGA associate vice president for facilities, said the center-hung scoreboard that was added the center of the arena in 2017 “may have contributed” to some of the stress shown in the joints. Also, extensive renovations were done in 2008, the interior building was enclosed in a glass-curtain wall in 2010, and an air-conditioning and heating system was added before the 1996 Olympic Games. All may have affected the dynamics of concrete structure.
The scoreboard was hung from the roof above center court in 2017 as part of a $5 million renovation project. Brooks said the lifespan of videoboards typically is seven to nine years. Brooks said the scoreboard will come down, but not before next season. UGA officials expect the completion of the repair work by the time that basketball season begins in November.
“Even if (the scoreboard) is having just .001 impact, we can also turn that into a positive,” Brooks said. “I’ve always stared at that wall (on the east end) and proactively looked it as an opportunity for us to do something dynamic. The way the coliseum lays out, you really have a tremendous canvass where you can put a phenomenal video board there.”
Georgia also is looking into adding some premium seating areas and making other improvements. Brooks said they are making “long-term plans” to use the building.
As for how long Stegeman Coliseum could remain a functional space for the university, Darden said, if well-maintained, “it could be another 50 years.”
“It could be longer than that,” she said. “I’m not really in position to speculate, but it has a lot of life left.”
