TOWSON, MD (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Towson University has given up on plans to renovate the aging Towson Center in favor of building a brand-new multi-use arena with a $45.4 million price tag.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the University dropped their plans for a proposed $30 million renovation of the existing facility after they started to understand the limitations of the current design.
"Once the architects started looking at it, they brought us the proposition that a new building would be a much better building in terms of what we'd get, and it'd also be a little less expensive than renovating," James P. Sheehan, vice president for administration and finance at Towson told the Sun.
"We had to decide whether we wanted a building that was acceptable, or one that we really, really liked," Sheehan added. "We went with one we really, really liked."
The new arena will accommodate just over 5,000 event attendees and will feature a new electronic scoreboard, video screens, and entertainment suites.
If approved by Towson's board of Regents and the board of public works, the project will be built using a combination of university funds and bonds and work could begin as early as July 2009 the Sun reported.
The existing arena will be kept on and used as a practice facility, event space and for classrooms. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
