Civic Arena receives interior renovations for upcoming tournament
Oct. 7—The interior of St. Joseph's Civic Arena is receiving a complete makeover as the NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament approaches.
The old orange seats from 1980 have been ripped out of the upper level, as a new section of light gray seats is being installed. It's the biggest change happening to Civic Arena right now, and one that will likely take four months to complete.
Hillyard already completed renovations to the basketball floor and new basketball hoops are awaiting the first swish of the season. Following the installation of the seats, a new overhead scoreboard will be installed along with LED lighting. The St. Joseph City Council also just approved more than $270,000 for floor ports at the arena, which will help accommodate several events.
The improvements are on a tight deadline, as the NCAA Division II women's basketball Elite Eight will tip off in St. Joseph in March. But St. Joseph Parks Director Chuck Kempf is looking past the tournament.
"We're really preparing for the future in general, but that's kind of an event that will push you along, make sure you try and keep things on schedule when you've got that kind of an event coming," Kempf said.
Members of the NCAA visited St. Joseph and the Civic Arena last week to see if any other improvements need to be made and organize logistics for the tournament.
"Civic Arena is very, very functional for events like that, considering you've got your operations folks on one level, you've got your fans and spectators on a total other level," said Brett Esely, the director of development and sports commission for the St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau. "I think the NCAA had a feeling of what the venue was like."
Last year's Elite Eight was held in Birmingham, Alabama, where Esely said such an event can get lost in a city that size. That's why he thinks St. Joseph and the Civic Arena is the perfect venue.
"You come to St. Joe, not that we don't have events on the calendar, because we do, but those (large) events are magnified," he said. "Civic Arena is the right size. It seats 3,700 people. You pack the place and it's a tremendous environment."
The total cost of the improvements is a little more than $3 million. But Kempf doesn't want to stop there. His next priorities are renovating the restrooms, concession stands and the stage before eventually moving on to the exterior of the building. He hopes the parks department can receive money from the state's and city's American Rescue Plan Act funds.
"We always have an eye on what's next," Esely said. "The perspective from some when they look at the arena project thought, 'Why are we doing this for one basketball tournament?' Or in this case two basketball tournaments. Well, it's the kick-starter but it's not just for those events."
The current improvements are expected to be completed in time for the basketball tournament but Kempf understands how unpredictable the supply chain is right now.
"We're always dependent on the supply chain and the delivery schedules and all of that, but I think everything is in pretty good shape," he said. "Unless something unforeseen happens right now, I think everything we've got on the schedule is going to make it right now."
Esely said once the improvements are done and visitors begin arriving for the tournament and other events, residents should feel great pride in their town.
"When you see that finished product, you see out-of-towners come in, enjoy being in our city, that creates a sense of community pride, especially in an area of town that I feel like continues to revitalize," Esely said. "Civic Arena is a huge part of that, and we're just now going to start seeing the dividends and the benefits of that."
Quinn Ritzdorf can be reached at quinn.ritzdorf@newspressnow.com
