A new $115-million, 5,000-capacity Arizona State arena has been approved by the university’s Board of Regents’ Finance, Capital and Resources Committee, clearing the way for final approval next week.
The new arena, planned as home to the ASU hockey program, would be located on South Packard Drive in Tempe, on a site next to Sun Devil Stadium and just east of Desert Financial Arena, near the former site of Packard Stadium. If approved by the Board of Regents on Nov. 18, construction could begin in January 2021 and be completed for the NCAA hockey season in December 2022.
This project has undergone plenty of iterations since first proposed, including a short time when it was proposed as a joint project with the Arizona Coyotes (NHL). It was also projected at one point as a Olympic training facility, but that seems to have gone by the wayside as well.
One interesting fact brought up before the regents’ committee: naming right to the arena have been sold, to the tune of $16 million.
The arena will sport two ice surfaces: one that is designed to be use full time as a practice, and a larger sheet with seating used for events and games. The larger arena area is also designed to be overlaid with a wood floor to hold other events, such as concerts, as well as matches for the ASU wrestling and volleyball programs.
Mortenson Sports is slated to construct the project.
Rendering courtesy Arizona State University.
RELATED STORIES: ASU Arenas Project Could Break Ground in Third Quarter 2019; New ASU Multi-Purpose Arena Slated for 2020 Completion; ASU Kills New Arizona Coyotes Arena Project; Best of 2016, #8: Arizona Coyotes Pitch New Arena; Arizona Coyotes Arena Could be Subject to ABOR Approval; Group Changes Stance on Arizona Coyotes Arena Proposal; Arizona Coyotes, ASU Discussing Tempe Arena; ASU/Coyotes Arena Still Looks Viable
