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Do you like the latest plan to replace the Smith Center?
UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts, chairman of the newest committee on a future basketball arena, moved the needle with his proposal of a multi-use facility at the site of the old Chapel Hill Airport on MLK Boulevard.
It’s an audacious plan that would take an estimated six years, start to finish. The total cost of construction and how to get that money is yet to come.
The Smith Center opened in 1986 after four years of controversy that left it woefully short of amenities and practical space. It cost about $34 million. The new arena – which might require naming rights – would cost at least 10 times that much plus more for Roberts’ plan to include commercial and retail and maybe a hotel.
That would be another revenue source the Smith Center lost early after big-name concerts went away due to traffic, parking and lack of beer sales. It’s a smart investment, since the new apartment complex on the corner of MLK and Estes Drive would be one of many nearby residences a short walk away. Certainly, a light rail or heavy bus route from Franklin Street could help on-campus students get there and back.
If they are definitely going off-campus, the Friday Center location has also been mentioned. It would have almost as much space, especially if UNC tried to purchase the adjacent Finley Forest apartments, among the oldest in a town that has thousands of newer multi-family units. The Friday Center is also across Highway 54 from Meadowmont, which has retail, commercial, restaurants and homes originally developed by East-West Partners.
The football-basketball dome at Syracuse, where the Tar Heels won Saturday night, is a reason new facilities have down-sized to get capacity crowds. The former Carrier Dome is basically on campus and seats about 35,000 for basketball, which has fallen on hard times and now draws fewer fans for opponents not named UNC and Duke.
Carolina’s new palace would seat about 16,000 with lower and upper concourses and suites for corporate and private investors. But Bubba Cunningham’s statement to the Triangle Sports Journal raises another question in the NIL era, where money is more important than facilities.
“So how can we continue to make sure that we remain elite?” he asked.
Opulent arenas create great alumni and fan experiences, which is always better if the team playing in the new building is also elite. And so this whole endeavor begs the question raised at the introduction of new football coach Bill Belichick, whose arrival will cost Carolina more than twice what Mack Brown got to work with over the last five years.
Cunningham was asked: “What about basketball?”
“We’re all in for both sports,” Bubba said without any details.
A final question: Wouldn’t donors rather give to get the best players than watch mediocre teams play in the Tar Heels’ new Taj Mahal?
Featured image via UNC-Chapel Hill/Jon Gardiner
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
I worry that moving off campus would create the problem State has with getting students to show up for games. But if off campus it is, at least the old airport is in walking distance of some students.
Given the declining importance of basketball in the college athletics landscape, I’m not sure raising and spending huge sums of money on a new basketball palace is the best plan. The other basketball blue bloods — UCLA, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, UConn, etc. — seem to be sticking with their current on-campus facilities.
Has anyone noticed that Cameron Indoor over in Durham only seats about 12K fans and is seriously lacking in amenities. Yet, Duke seems to be doing quite OK in spite of Cameron’s shortcomings.
Excellent point.
A GM, graphics and video coordinators, more staff, and now a new basketball complex. The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem! Maybe spending (many) millions on a new arena will help us make the NCAA Tournament! Any chance a couple of our coaches might step down and help build it?