Ellerbe Becket to help plan

new basketball arena
University officials announced at Thursday’s Athletic Department Finance Committee meeting that Ellerbe Becket, the architectural firm that designed Autzen Stadium, was contracted by the University on Sunday to help plan the new basketball arena. Previously, HKS was contracted for the project.
With new architects and a contractor on board, the project has “reached critical mass,” Associate Athletic Director Steve McBride said.
McBride said three ADFC members had met with HKS representatives over the summer to develop a “project document” for the arena, which describes all spaces in the facility and its relationship to surrounding spaces. Ellerbe Becket will continue to work with the same document.
Vice President for Administration Dan Williams’ office is currently overseeing most of the planning, although student government feedback will be solicited later.
The ADFC also discussed ticket discrepancies at the Oct. 25 football game against Stanford. Stadium workers collected approximately 4,000 student tickets, although newly elected ADFC chairman Kevin Day estimates nearly 6,000 students were present.
McBride said ticket discrepancies are a recurring problem and may be due to ticket printing technology or tickets lost after collection. He added that the Athletics Department has considered installing turnstiles or bar code scanners at Autzen, but these technologies are cost-prohibitive. The ADFC will continue to discuss possible solutions to this problem.
The group also ratified this year’s University Student Ticket Agreement. Only minor wording changes were made.

— Parker Howell