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Video flythru of the renovation plans here: http://www.gobearcats.com/sports/m-bask ... 15aaa.html

The University of Cincinnati department of athletics announced Tuesday a multi-million dollar fundraising campaign for the renovation of Fifth Third Arena, home to Bearcats men's and women's basketball and volleyball.

Proposed improvements to the 26-year old facility, built in 1989 and originally named the Myrl H. Shoemaker Center, include the creation of a 360-degree seating bowl, new restroom and concession facilities, a new upper-level concourse with its own fan amenities, expanded food and beverage options and a new main entrance and plaza with centralized ticketing and guest services. The renovated arena also will feature expanded premium seating options, including a courtside club, arena club and concourse club as well as enclosed suites, loge seating, a new Bearcats Lounge and super suites.

Earlier Tuesday, the UC Board of Trustees approved an interim $2.2-million funding request to allow for completion of documents in the design development phase. This will allow the Populous/Moody Nolan design team to remain on its current schedule with an anticipated construction start in March 2016.

A total funding request for the anticipated $85-million, privately-funded project will be submitted to the board for review and approval in the next 90 days.

$85 Million

Makes Moody's renovation look weak, and we literally gutted everything in it.

#HottestCollegeinAmerica. Is that kinda like saying #1 Super Best China Buffet?

The arena needs renovating. At least from what I have seen on TV.

blackoutpony wrote:$85 Million

Makes Moody's renovation look weak, and we literally gutted everything in it.

It is a larger stadium, 13k vs 7k

Planter's Punch wrote:

blackoutpony wrote:$85 Million

Makes Moody's renovation look weak, and we literally gutted everything in it.

It is a larger stadium, 13k vs 7k

Technically we were 9K before, but yeah I get it. I just know Moody ended up having a lot more problems (since it's so old) than they thought when they started stripping everything away.

It is an interesting place. One of the major problems it has is when you enter you have to head up about 15 steps which puts you in the middle of the arena, so then you have to go either up or down to reach your seat. They also stick the students at one end, and the other end is a wall. It will be interesting to see how they fix it up.

Terry, where does the name Fifth Third come from?

I'm not Terry but 5th 3rd is a bank in the Midwest. 5th national bank/3rd national bank combined and that's the best rebranding they could come up with

So they decided the 5th 3rd bank was better than the 3rd 5th bank I guess.

Oh okay. Thanks.

blackoutpony wrote:$85 Million

Makes Moody's renovation look weak, and we literally gutted everything in it.

You can't really compare by price tag. Construction costs more in some parts of the country than others.

Fifth Third needed to be completely redone. They have to change it structurally. As it is there's tons of empty space in the corners.

I was surprised to see the building was built relatively recently - late 1980s - because the awkward configuration you see on TV made it feel like it's been adapted and modified over many decades.
It definitely needs a major overhaul.

RGV Pony wrote:I'm not Terry but 5th 3rd is a bank in the Midwest. 5th national bank/3rd national bank combined and that's the best rebranding they could come up with

Yup, this. Pretty prominent bank in the Midwest. It's headquartered in Cinci, right on Fountain Square. Got quite a few friends there in the higher ups, good bank.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Third_Bank

I can think of quite a few stadiums that have the 5/3 name. Huntington and 5/3 are both pretty relevant midwest/east coast banks to be aware of.

From Wiki:
Fifth Third owns the naming rights to:

Fifth Third Field, a baseball stadium bearing the bank's name in Toledo, Ohio. Home of the Toledo Mud Hens, the minor league team of the Detroit Tigers.
Fifth Third Field, a baseball stadium bearing the bank's name in Dayton, Ohio. Home of the Dayton Dragons, a Class A minor league baseball team playing in the Midwest League, affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds.
Fifth Third Ballpark, a baseball stadium bearing the bank's name, in Comstock Park, Michigan. Home of the West Michigan Whitecaps, a Class A minor league baseball team playing in the Midwest League, affiliated with the Detroit Tigers.
Fifth Third Arena, an indoor arena bearing the bank's name on the campus of the University of Cincinnati, used by that school's basketball program
Fifth Third Bank Ballpark a baseball stadium bearing the bank's name, in Geneva, Illinois Home of the Kane County Cougars. Single A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
Fifth Third Bank Stadium, home of the Kennesaw State University (Georgia) Owls. Future site of Kennesaw State's football team in 2015.
Fifth Third Bank Field at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Fifth Third Bank purchased naming rights to the Citrus Bowl stadium for Orlando City Soccer Club games in 2013.

skyscraper wrote:I was surprised to see the building was built relatively recently - late 1980s - because the awkward configuration you see on TV made it feel like it's been adapted and modified over many decades.
It definitely needs a major overhaul.

Oh the stadium is in awful shape. Needs a renovation badly. Plus it serves as a multi-purpose arena, one of the old school stadiums and it wasn't done right from the beginning. Some of that 85 mil I'm sure is due to the multi-purpose nature of the building, such as holding hockey games.