Greg Byrne Proposes New Basketball Arena to UA Board of Trustees

The Alabama athletic director presented initial plans for the approval of the board on a new on-campus arena for basketball and gymnastics.

Thursday afternoon, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne officially proposed something that Alabama basketball fans have been waiting for: a new arena. 

Speaking to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees in Birmingham, Byrne shared plans for a new arena that would house the men's and women's basketball teams as well as the gymnastics team for competition.

There are still several sites being considered around the Alabama campus for the $183 million, approximately 10,400-seat arena. The Board approved the resolution for the initial proposal. 

A renovation to Coleman Coliseum was proposed initially when the Crimson Standard campaign was launched in 2018. After traveling around the country and looking at newly-constructed and newly-renovated arenas like at Ole Miss, Virginia, James Madison, Illinois, Cincinnati and DePaul, Byrne and his staff realized that Coleman Coliseum was in the bottom third of basketball arenas in the SEC and a complete rebuild would be better than a renovation. 

Some possible sites considered for the new building include the Coleman parking lot, the band field located off of University Boulevard and a location off Jack Warner Parkway. The site Byrne seemed most excited about that had the most positives is off McFarland Boulevard where the RVs park on football game days just north of Rhoads Stadium. 

Even though the total capacity would go from over 14,000 seats to below 10,400, Byrne said the total number of student seats will not diminish. There will still be approximately 2,200 seats for students, and the student section will encompass three-fourths of the lower bowl of the new arena according to Byrne. 

"Our fan support and student section has been incredible, and we are excited about the possibility of bringing them even closer to the action," Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats said in a press release. "I’ve said multiple times how having that support really makes a huge difference in the home-court advantage, and this would certainly make for an outstanding game-day atmosphere for our team and our fans."

The funding will be split between Crimson Standard gifts and bonds according to Byrne. Approximately $62 million of the $183 million will come from the Crimson Standard with the other $120 million coming from bonds. 

As far as the current facility, Coleman Coliseum would still be used for administrative purposes, and it would become the home of women's basketball's practice facility. The gymnastics practice facility would also receive an upgrade. 

Along with the new arena, Byrne also proposed a new golf facility about a mile from campus to be used by both the men's and women's team. It will cost around $27 million which will once again be funded by both the Crimson Standard and bonds. Currently both teams practice and have their facilities at Ol' Colony in Tuscaloosa which is also open to the public.

"Having a golf course that we can practice and play on exclusively is so important, and we are thrilled that we could have our own home with this facility," women's golf coach Mic Potter said in a press release. "We are so excited about what this could do for the future of the golf programs. More on-course golf instruction is trending upward, and this would give us an opportunity to be in a league of our own."

Byrne called the new arena and golf facility the anchors of phase two of the Crimson Standard. 

"We've been working on the Crimson Standard now for for several years and and the response from our donors has been just really outstanding," Byrne said. "We've been very pleased with progress that they have helped us move along as a department."

The Board also approved the final budget for the Bryant-Denny Stadium renovations. It went up $2.3 million because of site conditions, minor scope changes and extra safety measures that were added because of COVID. The budget increased was fully funded by cash from the Crimson Standard. 

Alabama New Arena/Facilities Proposal

The proposed new area will cost roughly $183 million

Alabama Athletics

Renderings are conceptual and subject to change. All projects are subject to approval of the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees and dependent upon fundraising success.

Seating for basketball will be roughly 10,400

The location of the arena has yet to be decided

The student section will encompass three-fourths of the lower bowl

The new area would also host the gymnastics team

The proposed new golf facility will be about a mile off campus

Alabama Athletics

The new golf facility would cost more than $27 million

Alabama Athletics

It includes nine-hole course, driving range, short-game practice area and a golf house

Alabama Athletics