Construction of Fieldhouse atrium begins

The UTRGV Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is adding an atrium to the Fieldhouse that is expected to be completed by early 2025. 

The new construction, which began last month, will include a lobby, hall of fame, concessions, new restrooms, fan store, a new seating area for attendees and an improved look for the outside of the Fieldhouse, which is located on the Edinburg campus.

Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque said the atrium will be about 13,000 square feet and cost about $14 million.

The hall of fame area will have digital aspects to it and will showcase the Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor inductees as well as the history of the Athletics department.

Jonah Goldberg, senior associate athletic director for Communications and Championships, said he was involved in helping with the Hall of Fame area.

“We’re going to have space to honor all of our hall of fame and hall of honor inductees,” Goldberg said. “ … I’m so excited that now we’re now going to have this area that will honor the accomplishments of those who came before us.”

Conque said in addition to the construction of the atrium, work will be done on the outside of the Fieldhouse.

“It will be an indoor space, with a beautification of the exterior of the Fieldhouse,” he said. “You’ll see a lot of rockscape, landscaping, lighting, things that will really bring attention to the building. It’s the largest on-campus venue that we have between Brownsville and Edinburg so it gets a lot of activity, not just game-day activity for sports, but also community events and other university events.”

The director of Athletics also said that near the current doors into the Fieldhouse, there will be a premium seating area for attendees consisting of 22 seats and will also feature a waitstaff.

“We’re going to be able to feature what we’re going to call a ‘baseline club,’ which will be 22 premium seats that will be right there on the baseline, kind of inside the atrium but with a front and center view of the game,” Conque said.

Asked how the new construction will compare to other Division 1 programs, Conque replied other programs have also conducted new construction or renovations and this helps UTRGV keep up.

“It’s really eye-opening when you look around the Western Athletic Conference,” he said. “… Many institutions within the WAC have recently built, or within the last 10 years or even five years, have built brand new facilities or have added substantial additions or renovations. I believe Abilene Christian University just completed maybe a $40 million renovation.”

Conque said Stephen F. Austin State University constructed an addition that cost about $35 million and California Baptist University recently opened its new state-of-the-art facility that cost about $100 million.

He said it was important to make the renovations and construction to keep up with the other schools, as well as enhancing the Fieldhouse, which was built in 1969.

Conque said Athletics made other improvements to the Fieldhouse before this season, including a new weight room and expansion of office space about a year and a half ago.

Athletics has been renovating the interior of the Fieldhouse as well.

Included in these renovations is a new digital video board that is around 30% larger than the previous one, has a higher definition of around 5k resolution and an LED ribbon board on the other side of the Fieldhouse.

Another addition in the Fieldhouse has been new seating for courtside, media, teams and bleachers. The rest of the spectators’ seating is yet to be delivered and installed.

Goldberg said it has been incredible to see the evolution of the Fieldhouse since he started working with the program during his 2007-2008 stint. 

“It’s so exciting to watch all these things happen,” he said. “When you’re here when it’s something different, and it was already fun to be here, and now you get to watch it evolve and turn into something incredible, it’s so much fun to literally be seeing it happen.”

Women’s Basketball head coach Lane Lord said the atrium is like the front porch of Athletics.

“The atrium is going to be the marquee,” Lord said. “It’s going to really light up the whole campus. It’s going to show that we are really proud of athletics. This is our basketball or volleyball arena and it’s going to showcase that. … Really, it’s an exciting time for this university, just to kind of top off everything we are doing here in Athletics.”

He said the video board hall of fame section will be an interesting part of the atrium where people can go and find the history of the sports and athletes of the UTRGV Athletics program.

Lord also said the fan store would be a big draw, as people can buy merchandise at the game.

“Even when the games aren’t playing, they just come in there and buy merchandise,” he said. 

Lord said Athletics hopes the construction will be completed in about 14 months.