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Two issues about the Smith Center that don’t include the arena.
Last month, the Rams Club sent out a wide-sweeping and somewhat confusing survey about the future of UNC’s basketball palace. It deals with various options to renovate or replace what we have all come to know as the Dean Dome, which was built for $36 million of private donations in the early 1980s. Estimates for a new arena approach $1 billion.
Recipients were asked what they would pay for upgraded seats, some of which would be tied to new corporate boxes and other hospitality areas.
The arena with Roy Williams Court has been improved with more comfortable seats, a better sound system and four spectacular digital boards three times the size of the old ones.
Once comfortably seated, fans can have as good of a basketball-watching experience as any arena of its size in the country.
However, there are problems of entrance and egress that cannot be solved without a new facility, and this does not include permanent parking problems a sports arena in that location can never overcome.
For example, why would a basketball arena with 20,000 seats ever be designed with only one concourse? Large arenas like PNC Arena at N.C. State and John Paul Jones at UVA have two concourse levels, which alleviate the pushing and shoving to rest rooms, concessions stands and aisles to your seats.
That is only on the way in.
When the Tar Heels are in a blowout, win or lose, some fans leave early and it helps with the flow from the building. But when the game goes down to the last minutes, as most do, leaving the Smith Center (especially at night) is dangerous and hazardous to navigate the narrow, poorly lit concrete sidewalks and stairs down to Skipper Bowles Drive to catch buses or walk to various parking lots.
A multi-million-dollar renovation could never solve those two major problems of an arena that was edged into a ravine at the bottom of a steep hill. It is surprising that no one has gotten seriously injured leaving the building, resulting in a major lawsuit against UNC. At the very least, more outdoor lighting is needed.
To athletic administrators, coaches, players and other VIPs who park behind the Smith Center, this is no problem. They easily get in and out at whatever time.
So, what are we willing to pay for options laid out in the survey? Most people I have asked found it too long and cumbersome to read and understand or found it centered, like everything else these days, around how much money it would cost on both ends of such a project.
In that regard it was ill-timed, and the phrase “donor fatigue” pops up like it has with many supportive alumni who are also being asked to give (more) NIL money.
Next, we’ll discuss where a new arena might be built and how much money that would cost!
Featured image via Todd Melet
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 thought the survey was pretty straightforward myself. Every answer I gave was geared towards putting students first.