Villanova announces Pavilion renovation

[Letsgonova]

$60M total spend, construction to start right after commencement this summer. Entire '17-18 season slate of home games played at Wells Fargo Center, plus some one-offs (Allentown, Long Island Coliseum).

The renovation should greatly improve the gameday experience (permanent concessions, team store, AV systems, scoreboard, seating, bathrooms, etc.) but won't add any capacity.

More details to come in the near future...

http://www.finneranpavilion.com

[anXUfan]

Great news!

[Novachap]

meh..... such a need for more seating and it looks like its not going to happen. That part is a travesty. The wait list for season tickets is years long and the student section is severely undersized. Student tickets are lottery driven.

The upside is it will finally be a nice experience for the fan at the game.

[ecasadoSBU]

That's B.S.... the marque program of the league cannot continue playing in a high school sized gym. what a shame... Not even 8k??

[Letsgonova]

Playing in the Pavilion doesn't seem to have hurt us to date. A bigger arena was never on the table - we don't have $200M to spend on the project, nor 10 years to waste fighting the Township about it.

More to the point, Villanova's current home attendance average is 10,250. Seems like we have the perfect-sized arena, it just happens to be split between two buildings. I actually think it's pretty perfect - we get full buildings for both cupcakes and the big games. Imagine playing UMES or Lafayette at Wells Fargo.Once I can buy beer and a chair back at the Pavilion, all is right with the world.

[Xudash]

Great news for Nova and the conference.

So 6,500 or 7k in capacity?

At least Nova isn't screwing up like St. Joe's did - a nicely renovated high school gym.

[kayako]

$60M is a lot of money for a renovation, especially if the future is more games at the Wells Fargo Center.

[Letsgonova]

It is, but it's OPM. If people are eager to give you money to enhance your revenue generating ability, you take it. Zero university dollars going into this project.

[Hall2012]

Awesome news! Looking forward to the Pirates not having to play in the Pavilion next year!

[NovaGrad12]

This is the epitome of putting lipstick on a pig. The Pavilion was undersized when it was built 30 years ago and if they don't add any capacity we will be stuck with another 30-year mistake. If the University can get the township to approve the new dorm complex project, they should have at least tried to get a plan with more seating approved. This is so short-sighted. It would have been a challenge and a lengthy process to fight the township, but this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. When else will the University be in the middle of a massive fundraising campaign with the defending national champions at their disposal? Such a waste.