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Coliseum Renovations Nearing Completion
November 10, 2016 11:48 AM | General
Construction work continues at a frenetic pace as the finishing touches are being made to West Virginia University’s most iconic athletic structure - the WVU Coliseum.
Phase one work began last spring on the 46-year-old facility’s concourse and will continue through December as part of a $23 million renovation project.
Phase two will involve seating improvements to the arena’s interior and will start at the conclusion of the 2016-17 basketball season. This is by far the most significant upgrade the Coliseum has experienced since the first men’s basketball game was played here on December 1, 1970.
“It’s been a long process but at the same time it’s been a short process,” noted WVU Director of Athletics Shane Lyons, who spent a portion of his Wednesday afternoon touring the facility. “We’re excited about the renovations. Everything is coming together and by Friday night for the 7 o’clock tip we will be ready to go.”
As is often the case with a facility of this age, there are things that come up during the construction process that are unexpected and have to be addressed.
Lyons explains.
“There were some structural things that had to be added to the Coliseum, which slowed down work and some of our piping, being 46 years old, needed to be replaced,” he said.
“But we’ve added life to this facility. It’s a beautiful building. Other than our state capitol, it’s the most iconic building in the state of West Virginia so doing a face lift, interior and exterior, gives us at least another 25 years,” he added.
Indeed, when work is completed the WVU Coliseum is going to be transformed into a modern, vibrant, colorful hub of athletic activity on par with many of the newer, more modern arenas in college athletics.
In a lot of ways, the WVU Coliseum concourse will be completely unrecognizable to fans used to attending Mountaineer athletic events here in the past.
For instance:
* Concessions are going to nearly double from 21 points of sale in the past to 40 when this initial round of refurbishments is completed.
Specifically, four new and slightly different types of concession areas will be added to the concourse: Almost Heaven Bistro, Wild and Wonderful Canteen, Mountaineer Café and Mountaineer Lounge.
The Mountaineer Lounge, containing a seating and dining area, is scheduled to be completed in early December, according to Lyons.
“What we tried to do with the concessions is not make them all the same,” Lyons explained. “We have four different areas and each will serve a little bit different variety of food.
“This is about the total fan experience,” he added. “We know some people get here early and some would like to stay a little bit later so we are going to provide ways for them to enjoy those experiences.”
* The concourse level will be adorned with new graphics, more color, and easily recognizable wayfinding signage to help fans get to their seating locations more rapidly.
Seating sections have been renumbered, the ticket office has been relocated near the Gold Gate and will have exterior access, the new and improved Team Shop will be located near the Hot Rod Hundley Statue with exterior access, the flooring will have a new expoxy surface to improve the aesthetics of the arena and the ceilings will now be exposed with new light fixtures.
Most importantly, the concourse has been expanded to substantially improve traffic flow and convenience throughout the arena.
“We want our concourses to be free-flowing, pushing the lines from the concessions toward the outside and that will help us a lot with the traffic inside the concourse area,” Lyons noted.
* Twelve new Daktronics LED boards will be located inside the interior bowl to add more color to the arena. “We’ve worked with IMG to add more signage to brighten up the Coliseum,” Lyons said. “That’s something we’re very excited about as well.”
* Forty-three high definition television monitors will be added throughout the concourse for fans to keep up-to-date on the action taking place on the court while they go to the concession stand to purchase food or go to the restroom.
* The total number of restrooms have been increased significantly, making the arena ADA compliant.
“The long lines we’ve had for men and the long lines we’ve had for women, hopefully the units we’ve added will help this substantially,” said Lyons.
And while most of the major work to the arena will be completed in time for Friday night’s season opener against Mount St. Mary’s, construction will continue through December to wrap up the initial phase of the multi-year project.
“We will still have some areas that are not completely done. Some of the flooring near the Country Roads Gate will not be finished by Friday night but it will all be cleaned and some of the areas that are not completely finished will be draped but all of the construction materials will be out of sight come Friday night,” Lyons concluded.
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