Mizzou Arena is getting a facelift.
Plans for a multi-million dollar renovation plan were announced Thursday, and will include a state-of-the-art video board, upgrades to the Tiger Player Development area, an upgraded facility entryway to prominently display the program's rich tradition, as well as upgrades to the team lounge, team locker room, team academic area and basketball strength and conditioning facility.
A private gift of $1.5 million helped kick-start the project and has been designated to a new arena video board that will be installed for the 2014-15 season.
"Mizzou Arena is entering its 10th season and is tremendous facility for our basketball programs, but we need to enhance the areas that impact the fan experience, student athlete well-being and assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes," Director of Athletics Mike Alden said. "In-game production and presentation is a significant factor in the game day experience for our fans and a new video board and sound system inside the Arena is a significant focus of this project. We also want to modernize our locker room and player lounge. We are proud to announce the first phase of that renovation (the player lounge) will begin immediately."
Leading the project will be Mizzou Deputy Director of Athletics, Doug Gillin, who was instrumental in securing the donation, which helped push the new scoreboard project ahead to the 2014-15 season.
"We have some tremendous partners associated with Mizzou Athletics and certainly their generosity helped make the video board become a reality for this upcoming season," Gillin said. "We will be working with Panasonic on the new board and sound system and we hope to have it ready for the start of the regular season."
"We will now begin to actively solicit private support for the next three phases of our renovation project, our team locker room and lounge, the player development area (including coaching offices), and our weight room," Gillin continued. "We have a great deal of work to do, but we are committed, as are our fans, to provide Coach Anderson with valuable recruiting tools to attract the most gifted student-athletes to campus and equip them for success in the classroom, in the community and on the court."
Head coach Kim Anderson believes the upgrades will be an asset for recruiting.
Mizzou's locker room will have a new look.
"We are going to recruit the best student-athletes in America to Missouri and upgrading the amenities at Mizzou Arena help illustrate our tremendous fan and University commitment to Mizzou Basketball," Anderson said. "This project will be phased in as we raise the funding, but to be able to start construction now, on both the video board and our team lounge, helps us to tangibly illustrate the vision we have for our program."
A look at the men's basketball team's new lounge.
