UA Board of Trustees approves $183M arena plan for Crimson Tide basketball and gymnastics

The University of Alabama System’s Board of Trustees has approved a plan to build a $183 million arena for University of Alabama basketball and gymnastics.

Proposed by Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne on Thursday, the new facility will replace the 54-year-old Coleman Coliseum which has a capacity of 15,383. The new venue is expected to seat 10,136.

According to Bama Central, “the design of the new arena will bring fans closer to the action on the court, a contrast to Coleman Coliseum which has been criticized for its cavernous atmosphere. It will feature student seating around the majority of the lower bowl in addition to new premium options in club, lounge, courtside and lower-level preferred seating.”

In addition to the new arena a $27 million golf facility was also approved.

Bama Online released the transcript of Byrne’s Zoom news conference after the approval Friday morning. 

Concerning next steps in the process —the timeline,  Byrne said:

“Yesterday was the approval of stage one, which allows us to start getting more detailed about everything you saw, which will include construction and project costs. We have the early estimates of where we think it will be. There’s going to be a number of processes that we go through, through the board of trustees, in the building of any facility, including this one. We’re gonna need to continue to raise money for the projects. We’ve been fortunate to have some success from the generosity of our donors and feel there’s more opportunity for other people to get involved to make this a reality. But those will be ongoing. We’ll be starting to talk more directly with architects and get further ideas and designs put together on what it can look like to hopefully, eventually, get a shovel in the ground on this.”

To read the entire transcript via Bama Online — HERE.

Next up — where the new arena will be built and additional fundraising. That will be decided soon, along with a target date for the opening of the new facility..