LaSalle Basketball Arena Renovations including name change

[ramster]

Was announced today

I read on LaSalle site that students will be seated behind visitors bench

They want to enhance the fan experience at the arena

https://goexplorers.com/news/2023/9/27/ ... oject.aspx

[ElmCityRhody]

not bad for a high school gym

[ATPTourFan]

https://goexplorers.com/feature/ArenaRenovation

[section(105)]

Didn’t the current court location have a chlorine odor from a nearby pool? And then there is Fordham’s building. We are so fortunate with the RC even with downsides of Wi-Fi and no replays.

[RF1]

The building is not being enlarged and capacity will not be increased. It will supposedly be only about 3k. The main work will be reorienting the court so that there can be 360 degrees of seating surrounding it

[Rhodyram]

Good for LaSalle. Looks like it will be much nicer than what they currently have. If it’s to be done in fall ‘24, I wonder if games this year will be Impacted??

[section(105)]

The “gym schools” reinventing themselves?

[Jdrums#3]

Good move on LaSalle’s part. Looks like it will be a good venue to view basketball games closeup.

The press release sounded good, too, including their intent to be competitive in the A10.

That said, I am not confident in their long term viability and ability to compete for multiple NCAAT births given the direction in which college basketball is trending. But then, the same can be said for other programs as well.

Hope it works out for them while they remain in the conference as a stronger A10 benefits Rhody. Time will tell if they succeed or not.

[Rhodymob05]

Better then what they have now.

[RhowdyRam02]

Was announced today

I read on LaSalle site that students will be seated behind visitors bench

They want to enhance the fan experience at the arena




IMG_9960.png


https://goexplorers.com/news/2023/9/27/ ... oject.aspx

Better than nothing, but still not an A10 level place to play.

Also, I was led to believe the A10 didn't allow students near the visitors bench and that's why our student section was moved....

[RhowdyRam02]

Didn’t the current court location have a chlorine odor from a nearby pool? And then there is Fordham’s building. We are so fortunate with the RC even with downsides of Wi-Fi and no replays.

It seems like the pool and basketball court are in the same building with the pool on the first floor and the arena on the third floor

[RhowdyRam02]

Good for LaSalle. Looks like it will be much nicer than what they currently have. If it’s to be done in fall ‘24, I wonder if games this year will be Impacted??

They claim no home games this year or next will be impacted, construction will start immediately after this season ends

[RhowdyRam02]

The “gym schools” reinventing themselves?

They're making their gyms nicer but still not A10 level

[Obadiah]

A nice move by La Salle because the 360 bowl set-up will dispel the high school gym atmosphere of the place. This is about the best they can do given their financial profile. Among the nation's private Catholic schools, La Salle has one of the poorest financial situations. They are helped greatly by their location in a large urban area with conditions that make a financial turn around possible. This renovation improves their basketball outlook, but the school has a long way to go.

[Bartoburger]

Now they need to sell the place out and it wont feel like a highschool gym.

[RF1]

A-10 Home Venues with Capacity

Lasalle Glaser Arena 3,000
Fordham Rose Hill Gym 3,200
Duquesne UMPC Cooper Fieldhouse 3,500
GW Smith Center 4,057
St Joe's Hagan Arena 4,200
Loyola-Chicago Gentile Arena 4,381
SBU Reilly Center 4,850
Davidson Belk Arena 5,295
Richmond Robins Center 7,201
VCU Siegel Center 7,637
URI Ryan Center 7,657
GMU Eagle Bank Arena 7,860
UMass Mullins Center 9,493
St Louis Chaifetz Center 10,600
Dayton UD Arena 13,409

[Obadiah]

La Salle game attendance has steadily declined over the last 10 years and over the last five seasons it has averaged well below 2000 per game, with last season being the worst at 1,481. So this renovation should boost that figure and possibly give them $50K per game revenue boost.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Was announced today

I read on LaSalle site that students will be seated behind visitors bench

They want to enhance the fan experience at the arena




IMG_9960.png


https://goexplorers.com/news/2023/9/27/ ... oject.aspx

Better than nothing, but still not an A10 level place to play.

Also, I was led to believe the A10 didn't allow students near the visitors bench and that's why our student section was moved....

By the same person that said A10 doesn't allow replays during prime sponsor commercial time?

[Jdrums#3]

La Salle game attendance has steadily declined over the last 10 years and over the last five seasons it has averaged well below 2000 per game, with last season being the worst at 1,481. So this renovation should boost that figure and possibly give them $50K per game revenue boost.

It should be an exciting environment with the students behind the visiting teams bench….

Especially when LaSalle is losing and the students are all on their phones.

The Explorers better start all their home games fast.

[RF1]

In other school basketball arena news, it appears that a replacement or major renovation for Patrick Gym at Vermont is dead. There had once been a major proposal to spend nearly $100M on upgraded venues for Vermont hockey and basketball. The plan also included more student fitness space. Work began on renovating the Gutterson Ice Rink and adding new student space. Covid and high inflation then significantly increased the costs. The Vermont BOT just voted this past Friday to spend the remaining project funds on adding more student fitness space. This effectively ends the former plan to upgrade the basketball venue with nothing significant having been done on this aspect of the project. The school is basically back to ground zero with that effort as all the initial funds have been already used or allocated elsewhere. I cannot imagine this has gone over well with Rich Tarrant who had donated $15M back in 2018 for a new basketball home that would bear his name.