IOWA CITY -- One of the most notable topics in now-permanent athletic director Beth Goetz's introductory press conference Tuesday was potential changes or renovations to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Goetz's message to Hawkeye fans: renovations are coming, and she wants the students more involved.
While several other athletic facilities on the Iowa campus have been built or renovated in recent years, the 41-year-old home of men's and women's basketball and wrestling has been largely untouched, and Hawkeye fans have been eager for a modernization for several years.
A feasibility study on potential changes to Carver-Hawkeye Arena was launched last fall, though, and Goetz affirmed that changes will be coming to the venerable building. "It has been a wonderful facility for 40 years, and what we need to do is ensure that it serves our needs for the next few decades," said Goetz.
"That feasibility study started well over six months ago, and we're excited about some of the opportunities to consider changes that will directly impact the student-athlete experience, the fan experience, and certainly some other adjustments."
Goetz said the athletic department would soon seek feedback on some of the renovation concepts. "We are working through a financial study as well, so doing a little bit of a donor feasibility study," Goetz said, "but we're close to being able to have some focus groups and get some more significant input."
Goetz declined to offer much in the way of specifics to the potential changes at this time, but her comments suggested three priority areas: enhanced premium seating opportunities, modifications to student seating, and improved amenities overall.
"I do think we need increased premium spaces for our fans to have an opportunity to enjoy a game the way people are now used to doing that so they can visually see that and have access to different amenities," Goetz noted.
Adding "premium spaces" would likely involve the creation of some club or box seating options. The single-bowl structure of CHA complicates that concept, hence the need for a feasibility study to determine what renovations might actually be possible.
"Lots of conversation from our students about the environment that they may be able to create in and around the floor is really important," Goetz added. "There's [also] a lot of amenities that we just need to update as we look at what that'll be in 20 years."
The last item is especially important, given the lack of on-campus space for new facilities; The department will need to make the most out of CHA as a venue for Iowa sports, because there simply aren't any other serious options inside the cramped footprint of Iowa's campus.
Goetz noted that they hope to make more information about the renovation plans available to the public soon, but they want to be careful to discuss options that can actually be delivered on. "We are anxious to start to make that a little bit more public, but we don't want to show anybody the car they can't afford," Goetz said.
"So we want to narrow that down, make sure what we think is important does resonate, and that we're on the right track with all those constituencies before we really decide to shop that around," Goetz concluded, ending the day's news conference.
