By Michael J. Malone
HuskerHawkeye.com contributor
Last week, we looked at the football stadium wars where Nebraska and Iowa have continued to make improvements to venerable stadiums. This week, the focus shifts to basketball where both schools are also upgrading, but in different ways.
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| Carver Hawkeye Renovation |
Iowa has played in Carver-Hawkeye Arena since January of 1983. When it was built, it was considered a state-of-the-art building, but in this era of new arenas with club seating for boosters and upgraded practice facilities, Iowa was falling behind. Former Iowa men's basketball coach Steve Alford often lamented the lack of a practice facility which forced his team and others to practice at off hours due to the heavy usage of Carver.
Basketball will always play second-fiddle to football at Nebraska. That said, the Huskers were in great need of an upgrade for a facility that opened in 1976, especially coming into the Big Ten where basketball is held in a higher regard than it is in the Big 12 (with apologies to basketball-crazy Kansas of course).
So the two schools took different approaches in search of the same result. At Iowa, it will be in the form of renovation and addition. At Nebraska, a new arena in Lincoln went to a vote of the people and was approved. The work in Iowa City will be done by the end of the summer. The Lincoln Haymarket Arena is set for a fall 2013 opening.
The Carver-Hawkeye Arena Addition and Renovation Project is nearly complete. The project cost will be in excess of $40. It includes a practice facility immediately north of the Arena for use by the men's and women's basketball teams and the volleyball team. The project also includes renovation and expansion of the wrestling room and fitness space for all of the university's sports programs and the renovation of existing and the creation of new office, meeting, and storage space.
The revitalization of the arena will also extend into spaces used by the general public on game days and nights, including renovation of select concessions and restroom facilities, and the creation of hospitality and meeting spaces combined with club facilities for fans of the Hawkeyes who choose to participate in a variety of premium seating options.
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| Haymarket Arena |
Where all of Iowa's improvements were done without taxpayer dollars, Lincoln's new arena was in the hands of the voters, who approved the proposal to issue $25 million in bonds to help build the new downtown sports and concert arena in 2010. The arena will cost $168 to build and will give the Cornhuskers one of the top facilities in the Big Ten.
The vision shown by the people in Lincoln was impressive, especially in a football-crazy state. Nebraska fans want to have a complete sports program. They have long prided themselves in having success in all sports. Building this arena is just another step in that process.
Neither school has experience much men's basketball success recently. Iowa's program appears to be on the rebound and Nebraska had some good moments in its last Big 12 season. The Hawkeyes will reap the benefits of their new facility this year. Nebraska will play two more years in the Devaney Center before moving to the downtown arena.
Bottom line, both schools recognized what had to be done to compete in today's Big Ten and have taken the necessary steps.
Look for those steps to pay dividends on the court.
