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By Alex Byington Sports Writer
DESTIN, Fla. — Coleman Coliseum isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
As one of the oldest on-campus basketball arenas in the Southeastern Conference, Alabama’s 50-year-old home of the Crimson Tide men’s and women’s basketball programs, as well as the gymnastic team, appears headed more for an internal renovation than a complete overhaul.
“I think … it’s just more about how can we, without just throwing some new paint on Coleman, how can we transform Coleman,” Alabama head men’s basketball coach Avery Johnson said Wednesday during the second day of the SEC’s annual Spring Meetings at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort. “That’s kind of where we are.”
Built in 1967 and renovated roughly 13 years ago, Coleman Coliseum is the SEC’s third-oldest facility behind Georgia’s Stegeman Coliseum (opened in 1964) and Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium (1952).
But with SEC West neighbors like Auburn and Ole Miss having built new facilities since 2010, there have been discussions about either updating Coleman or building a new facility elsewhere on campus.
The latter option would be costly, likely upwards of $100 million, which is one reason it appears renovation is more likely.
“It’s leaning more toward the idea of a remodel, but even there we’re not there yet,” Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said Wednesday. “We’ve been studying it, we’ve been looking at some research in the marketplace on what would be supported, and then we have to find a financial model that will work with that.”
Coleman Coliseum underwent some reconfiguration ahead of the 2016-17 season, when the student section was moved from the small area behind the west goal to the south seating section opposite the opposing team’s bench.
“My preference is that we have to address our home facility, and with Greg’s leadership we’ve done that,” Johnson said. “I’ve been at in on a lot of meetings, and we haven’t advertised a lot of our meetings, and that’s been strategic. … I know at some point down the road, something’s going to get done, but I think it’ll be more of a renovation than a new building.”
One of the ways Johnson wants to renovate Coleman is by upgrading both the student- and premium-seating areas to enhance the entertainment potential. The idea is to create a worthwhile game experience that could help bring in even more fans.
“(Improving) our student participation in our games is something that we’ve talked about significantly, and also how can we have better and more high-level VIP experiences for our season ticket holders,” Johnson said. “Because, with me coming from the NBA world, the entertainment value of your games, being able to entertain at different levels — not just with the team on the court — but all of those experiences that are sometimes exposed and sometime hidden behind with certain club levels that are visible and some that are not visible. I just think providing all of those experiences for different ticket levels are critically important to our program.”
By Alex Byington Sports Writer
Alabama basketball: Renovation likely for Coleman
As one of the oldest on-campus basketball arenas in the Southeastern Conference, Alabama’s 50-year-old home of the Crimson Tide men’s and women’s basketball programs, as well as the gymnastic team, appears headed more for an internal renovation than a complete overhaul.
“I think … it’s just more about how can we, without just throwing some new paint on Coleman, how can we transform Coleman,” Alabama head men’s basketball coach Avery Johnson said Wednesday during the second day of the SEC’s annual Spring Meetings at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort. “That’s kind of where we are.”
Built in 1967 and renovated roughly 13 years ago, Coleman Coliseum is the SEC’s third-oldest facility behind Georgia’s Stegeman Coliseum (opened in 1964) and Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium (1952).
But with SEC West neighbors like Auburn and Ole Miss having built new facilities since 2010, there have been discussions about either updating Coleman or building a new facility elsewhere on campus.
The latter option would be costly, likely upwards of $100 million, which is one reason it appears renovation is more likely.
“It’s leaning more toward the idea of a remodel, but even there we’re not there yet,” Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said Wednesday. “We’ve been studying it, we’ve been looking at some research in the marketplace on what would be supported, and then we have to find a financial model that will work with that.”
Coleman Coliseum underwent some reconfiguration ahead of the 2016-17 season, when the student section was moved from the small area behind the west goal to the south seating section opposite the opposing team’s bench.
“My preference is that we have to address our home facility, and with Greg’s leadership we’ve done that,” Johnson said. “I’ve been at in on a lot of meetings, and we haven’t advertised a lot of our meetings, and that’s been strategic. … I know at some point down the road, something’s going to get done, but I think it’ll be more of a renovation than a new building.”
One of the ways Johnson wants to renovate Coleman is by upgrading both the student- and premium-seating areas to enhance the entertainment potential. The idea is to create a worthwhile game experience that could help bring in even more fans.
“(Improving) our student participation in our games is something that we’ve talked about significantly, and also how can we have better and more high-level VIP experiences for our season ticket holders,” Johnson said. “Because, with me coming from the NBA world, the entertainment value of your games, being able to entertain at different levels — not just with the team on the court — but all of those experiences that are sometimes exposed and sometime hidden behind with certain club levels that are visible and some that are not visible. I just think providing all of those experiences for different ticket levels are critically important to our program.”
By Alex Byington Sports Writer
Alabama basketball: Renovation likely for Coleman
