MSU awards arena contract

Construction of the 12,500-seat arena is slated to begin late this year, with completion scheduled for October 2008.

The $60 million arena will house the school’s indoor athletics, while the 30-year-old Hammons Student Center will be used for intramural sports and student recreation. A private club for dining and entertaining will be in the arena, as well as 20 luxury seats and the MSU Hall of Fame.

JE Dunn has designed similar projects, including the Mizzou Arena in Columbia and the Mid-America Center Arena in Iowa.

A spokesperson for JE Dunn could not be reached, nor could Greg Burris, chair of MSU’s arena selection committee.

The JE Dunn release also lists Ellerbe Becket, of Minneapolis, Minn., as project architect. University officials have been working with Ellerbe Becket in what they called the initial programming phase.