The University of North Carolina is considering building a new men’s basketball arena complex off-campus to replace the Dean Smith Center, according to a report from Greg Barnes of Inside Carolina.
After months of consideration, the new basketball arena would be built at the Carolina North side located at the northwest corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Estes Drive in Chapel Hill, per Barnes.
The Tar Heels have played in the Dean Smith Center since 1986. It’s been expanded and renovated on multiple occasions since, with the most recent renovation coming in 2018.
UNC chancellor Lee Roberts discussed the benefits of an off-campus location for a men’s basketball complex in an interview with the Triangle Business Journal.
“If we were to move the basketball arena to a location away from the central core of campus, we wouldn’t put it in the middle of surface parking lots with nothing else around. It would be part of a broader mixed-use development program, as you’ve seen in several other venues across the country with multiple uses, including lodging, retail, entertainment and dining. And I’ll tell you that would be a significant improvement on the Smith Center location. So it is walkable for a lot of the students, but there’s nowhere to get a bite to eat before the game, there’s nowhere to grab a beer after the game,” Roberts said.
If the basketball arena is moved, the University would consider expanding North Carolina’s hospital center to the area where the Dean Smith Center currently resides.
As for this year’s Tar Heels, the program is 14-11 overall and 7-6 in ACC play. Hubert Davis & Co. have some work to do in order to reach the NCAA tournament.
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