Wyoming’s Arena-Auditorium primed for a major renovation

But more than 31 years later, there is something this dome-shaped building has never experienced — significant modernizations or renovations.

That is about to change. Starting in March of 2014, the A-A will undergo the first of a two-phase renovation project. The entire project will cost $30 million.

“We are trying to create a facility that works for today, and works 20 years from now,” UW athletics director Tom Burman said.

UW is going all-in with this project.

The wooden roof of the building will remain the same, but the rest of the A-A will have a completely different look.

There will be a new floor, new seats, new video boards, new locker rooms and a new training center. Eventually, there will also be a new entryway into the arena.

And the name of both the court and arena likely will change.

Building new facilities, or improving existing structures, is nothing new for UW athletics. In recent years, UW spent tens of millions of dollars on additions and renovations to War Memorial Stadium, including the construction of its $11 million indoor practice facility, the $9.4 million Rochelle Athletics Center and the $26.4 million Wildcatter Stadium Club and Suites.

This year, a new artificial playing surface will replace the one installed in 2005.

A new outdoor track complex was completed in 2006, as was a $2.75 million indoor tennis facility in 2011. There’s been improvements to War Memorial Fieldhouse and its indoor track surface in recent years. And later this summer, construction begins on a $1.2 million indoor golf facility.

But the A-A renovations may be one of the more challenging projects Burman and his staff have ever taken on. Of the $30 million price tag, nearly two-thirds must be raised by the athletics department and its fundraising arm – the Cowboy Joe Club.

Where is the money from?

The state of Wyoming is providing $10 million in matching funds for the A-A renovation.

About $4.5 million of that is going toward the $12 million Phase I. The first phase, which includes a new strength and conditioning center, was made possible by a large donation by former UW hoops great Theo Ratliff (1992-95).

Ratliff did not want to disclose how much he donated, and when asked, Burman respected Ratliff’s wish. But the gift was large enough that UW named the new strength and conditioning center the Theo Ratliff Family High-Altitude Training Center.

Ratliff played 16 years in the NBA and still is UW’s career leader in blocked shots. He led the NBA in blocked shots three times.

“This was an opportunity for me to get re-engaged with the university since leaving to go out to the NBA,” Ratliff said. “Over the last 16 years, I have been focused on pursuing my career in professional basketball.”

Ratliff returned to UW for the first time last winter.

“It meant so much to me,” he added. “It was exciting for me to see how much the university and the athletics department have grown. As an influential sports figure from the University of Wyoming, I just wanted to do my part in helping complete the transformation of the arena.”

Three other former UW basketball players have donated money to the A-A renovations, including Reggie Slater (1989-92) — the school’s career rebounding leader — Dick Scarlett (1960) and Robert Rhynsburger (1957-58).

It is not uncommon for former players to give back to their schools for such projects, but more often than not, it comes from people like Scarlett and Rhynsburger whose playing days are long behind them.

“To get younger guys like Theo and Reggie to agree to do something, for those substantial gifts, is very rewarding,” Burman said. “I think we will have some more (former players) join force and continue with this fundraising effort.”

The good news is the funding for Phase I is all but done. The bad news is the funding for Phase II is not.

Shallow donor pool

Randy Welniak, UW’s senior associate athletics director for development and revenue enhancement, and director of the Cowboy Joe Club, said 23 donors have given or pledged money to the A-A renovations through early June.

The Cowboy Joe Club has around 5,000 members, which is an all-time high. To raise money to pay for the kind of renovations UW wants to do with the A-A, it needs significant cash gifts — not $100 here or $500 there.

“We need some multi-million dollar gifts to make this thing go on the timeline I would like,” Burman said.

But where will that come from?

Welniak said there are about 60 individuals, families, businesses and foundations UW is targeting to raise money for Phase II.

“Within the numbers in our population base and our alumni base, we have a limited number of prospects and donors,” Welniak said. “Our donors have continued to step up and support everything we have done and we know we are asking a lot from them.

“Still, I am confident we will get it done. We have some proposals out there for some major asks. I would hope to have the majority of the funding in place over the next six months.”

But with the pool of potential donors shallow, and not a lot of corporate entities to approach in the state, Burman said he and his staff cannot miss on many they approach.

Selling the naming rights to the arena and the court will go a long way to providing the funding for Phase II. Wyoming’s small size does not give it a lot of options to approach large companies or corporations. Burman said the naming rights likely will go to individuals or families.

“Everything has a price, and we can’t undersell it,” Burman said. “To me, the arena and the court are two unbelievable naming opportunities, maybe the best on campus when you think of all the young people that come through this building.

“I always wanted to hold on to the naming rights so we could use it for renovations such as these. I don’t disagree that the Arena-Auditorium is a redundant name, but I also didn’t want to put a name on it and not generate revenue from it.”

It is one thing for Burman or Welniak to approach donors for annual giving, mainly for money that goes toward scholarships for UW’s student-athletes. It is another to approach donors for big projects such as this, where they are looking for donations in the five- to seven-figure range.

There is a certain tact and subtlety that goes into it, and in Welniak’s mind, a strong message.

“They need to understand the big picture, and know what we are trying to strive for in providing a phenomenal environment for student-athletes. We have to compete on a conference level but also at a national level in basketball.”

At the conference level, New Mexico recently spent $65 million in renovations to University Arena — known as the Pit. Fresno State recently built a new $110 million arena, and UNLV just built a new practice facility for basketball next to the Thomas & Mack Center.

“We have to have those type of facilities that we are being recruited against,” Welniak said. “We want to showcase what we are able to do, even at a smaller and less populated area in the country. But we still are a Division I program and have had some national exposure in basketball — both men’s and women’s.

“They have to truly believe in the University of Wyoming athletics program, and especially men’s and women’s basketball.”

John Stark, the vice president of the UW Foundation, works closely with Burman and Welniak in the fundraising process for this project. Stark used to run the Cowboy Joe Club before he moved to the foundation, so he is familiar with a lot of the people UW is talking with.

Also, men’s basketball coach Larry Shyatt and women’s coach Joe Legerski are involved.

If UW falls short of the $18 million price tag for Phase II with its fundraising, it could go back to the Wyoming Legislature and ask for additional funding, which could include more matching fund monies.

UW also could bond it and take out some debt services, but Burman said he does not want that.

Necessary or needed

“Sweet. I can now rest easy knowing that future clashes with Cal-State El Segundo will be much easier to win because of the upgraded caliber of recruits whose decisions were clinched because of nicer locker rooms and training areas.”

This was a quote from a person on one of the Internet fan chat sites making light of the renovations to the A-A, along with the light nonconference home schedule UW men’s basketball has had in recent years.

But in UW’s mind, the renovations and modernization of the A-A are crucial to the future of not only the building itself, but also its sports programs housed there.

“It’s going to be great for the fans, but it is going to be even better to be able to give a recruit a visual commitment that I think is so important nowadays,” said Shyatt, who has been a college basketball coach for more than 40 years.

“Maybe it is even more important when you are isolated in cold country like we are. ... It is still a 17- or 18-year-old, and sometimes with a parent or parents, and sometimes not. So it is that visual that they have that support and that they care.

“Yes, we want to win a championship and we know who we are. We are not building the new Dean Dome (the nickname of the basketball arena at the University of North Carolina), but what we are doing is giving a facelift and visual commitment that we need here.”

UW football joined the growing trend of “flash and flair” the last couple of years when it came up with numerous uniform and helmet combinations. It will add to that this season with a new artificial playing surface that will feature outlines of mountains in the end zones.

Basketball players want the same thing.

“It is mind-blowing how different and how quickly that has changed,” said former UW basketball player Adam Waddell of Cody (2009-12), who now is a graduate assistant for Welniak at the Cowboy Joe Club.

“It today’s world, athletes want to see the flash and flair of everything. That’s what is has come to. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but it puts a lot of pressure on universities to step up and find those funds.”