Arena Under Way

The 218,800-square-foot, $67 million facility’s 11,000 seats should go in the third week of September in preparation for the November men’s basketball opener, said Randy Blackwood, MSU executive director of entertainment and athletics venues.

Officials say they’re aiming to line up one concert per month in the venue. “This will be much more show friendly (than Hammons Student Center),” Blackwood said, while pointing out the ceiling rigging grid with a 150,000-pound load limit for concert equipment. The first concert event wouldn’t likely be until December, he added.