MSU arena shrinks in size, grows in cost

That was the word today from leaders at Missouri State University at a morning news conference on campus.

Due to the increasing cost of construction materials, the projected number of seats in the new on-campus basketball facility has shrunk from 12,000 to 11,000. The design, however, allows for up to 1,500 seats to be added in the future.

“We worked very hard to get the cost as low as possible,” University President Michael Nietzel said. “We reduced our wish list and went through a rigorous process to get the cost down to a level we could afford.”

Despite the slightly smaller seating capacity – which includes 9,637 chair-back seats and 1,363 bleacher-back seats for students – the budget has increased, from $60 million to $67 million.

John Q. Hammons, who was on hand for the announcement, has agreed to chip in $5 million of the increase. Hammons committed $25 million to the project when it was first announced in February.

“Every time we met, Mr. Hammons told me, ‘If you need more help to build the kind of arena that we want and Springfield and the university deserves, let me know,’” Nietzel said. “That point did come, and Mr. Hammons committed the additional $5 million to make this dream a reality.”

The arena plan, which has triple the number of lower bowl seats and student seats than in the Hammons Student Center, also includes 55 courtside seats, 22 private suites and 116 loge seats.

Click here for larger renderings of the arena’s exterior, interior and floor plan. Renderings are provided by architects Ellerbe-Becket and Pellham Phillips.

See SBJ’s Sept. 18 issue for more on the latest arena plans.