'Master plan' in works for Stegeman Coliseum for Georgia basketball for future renovations
Stegeman Coliseum is “ahead of schedule” on repairs to its ceiling after the venue that hosts Georgia basketball and gymnastics was shut down since March, athletic director Josh Brooks said Monday.
Stegeman is scheduled to open in time for the start of the men’s and women’s basketball seasons that tip off in November.
There are more plans in the future envisioned for the arena that was built in 1964 that is also used for Georgia gymanstics and volleyball and graduations.
Brooks told the Athletic Association’s facilities and development committee Monday morning in a meeting held via Zoom that a “master plan,” for Stegeman is in the works with bids for contractors already being solicited.
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Brooks already outlined months ago about wanting to remove the central scoreboard and add a large video board to the end of the coliseum where large graphics currently are and add new lighting and sound to “amp up the in-game experience.”
He said “as we do this we also want to take a long look and see what can be done in terms of premium seating, in terms of what can be done with the event level spaces. … Instead of taking just a one off shoot look at it we want to look at a detailed master plan for the future segments.”
Brooks said enhancements could come in several phases.
Georgia already has added a new basketball weight room in Stegeman’s lower level and the ceiling was painted black for the coliseum that seats more than 10,000.
“I’ve been in there, it looks amazing,” Brooks said. “I think when you all walk into Stegeman the new work that’s been done to the ceiling, the painting that’s been done, it really modernizes Stegeman. It makes it feel much in line with the modern venues you see today.”
Georgia is pushing through with renovations to Stegeman Coliseum rather than build a new arena that Brooks has said would cost more than $200 million.
It was closed after a small piece from the ceiling fell on March 2, at least the third time a ceiling piece fell since spring 2018.
More information about the master plan will be presented to the athletic board in its meeting Sept. 22.
Brooks also told the committee:
-- Perkins & Will and Manhattan Construction have been hired for the new track and field facility that will be built on S. Milledge Ave.
-- The third and fourth floor of the Butts-Mehre building will be closed to the public after the Sept. 23 UAB game so construction of an area to celebrate the schools’ national and SEC championships and an area to recognize the career of Vince Dooley, the former football coach and athletic director who died last year. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2023.
-- Georgia has nearly hit its $83 million fundraising goal combined for the Foley Field baseball project and Jack Turner softball stadium project.
Underground utility work for baseball was completed this summer in the first phase. Work already has started on renovating the locker room and the team meeting room and they will be completed for the first season of new coach Wes Johnson.
-- The school will start fundraising for the new track and new football practice fields to be built on the current track space. No figures on the cost of those projects have been announced.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Here is the Stegeman Coliseum repair plan for Georgia basketball
