Groundbreaking for Carolina North will be in 2027.
Preliminary plans call for graduate student housing, plus research, educational and industry engagement and possibly AI and advanced technology, some of which was discussed since the private Chapel Hill airport was closed down.
The area is about 230 acres, which may be enough for all of the above plus a hotel, commercial and retail and possibly a new basketball home of the Tar Heels to replace the 40-year-old Dean Smith Center, which is getting most of the public discourse.
UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts was a Duke student when the Smith Center debuted on January 18, 1986, against the Blue Devils. It was considered an eighth wonder of the (sports) world until flaws in planning and construction were uncovered by employees and fans.
Upgrades to the 22,000-seat arena have made it a celebrated game experience for attendees between traffic and parking and a crowded concourse. UNC has done the best it can with those foibles.
Four of Carolina’s seven national championship teams have played there, and dozens of players and coaches and two generations of season ticket holders favor renovations over relocation elsewhere.
Roberts liked the Cameron Indoor Stadium 8,000-seat band box that remains one of the best homecourt advantages in the game. But he favors a compromise between one of the smallest and biggest college venues, and he is well schooled with what went wrong here.
He knows the student bleachers that surround the Cameron court make Duke teams almost unbeatable, and now the Carolina boss wants to see something similar for a new home of the Tar Heels.
He says, “First and most important: How do we win as many basketball games at a time when that’s becoming more expensive for everybody? How do we put the most elite team on the court that we possibly can? Many universities play in fantastic arenas but are no longer considered so because they didn’t continue to innovate.”
Again referring to Duke, “How do we get as many students in the arena and as close to the court as possible? What helps a competitive advantage in a basketball arena is the students on their feet and hollering. And third, the fan experience, get people out of their living rooms and rec rooms to come cheer the Tar Heels.”
What Roberts doesn’t say is the way college athletics has changed and turned into a semi-pro sport, where the revenue share and NIL allow the best players to be paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions to pick a school without the biggest and swankiest arenas because it is just a pit stop on their way to a pro contracts.
Most universities and smaller schools don’t have enough money to do both, and as Roberts says the name of the game is winning. In the years when his alma mater did not win enough, they couldn’t even fill their band box.
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Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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