Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
Auburn

Major renovations for Auburn Arena on the agenda for next board of trustees meeting

Stephen Samraby: Steve Samra01/27/22SamraSource

Auburn has been taken over with pride in their basketball team. Enjoying a magical season, Bruce Pearl and the Tigers are the No. 1 team in the nation.

Now, more good news could be coming the program’s way. According to Tom Green of AL.com, major renovations for Auburn Arena are on the agenda for the next board of trustees meeting.

“Due to the heavy use of the Auburn Arena main court as the competition venue for men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s volleyball, women’s gymnastics, and visiting team pre-game practice sessions, the main court is often not available for team practice sessions,” according to the agenda item listed in the meeting materials, via AL.com. “The proposed project… will allow both the men’s and women’s basketball programs to conduct practices at times that are advantageous to student-athletes and bring their facilities to Southeastern Conference competitive standards.”

Moreover, Green writes that Auburn’s Board of Trustees will be presented with the proposed renovations to Auburn Arena during their meeting on Feb. 4. Additionally, the new practice gym at Auburn Arena has been on Pearl’s wishlist for quite sometime.

Bennett Durando of the Montgomery Advertiser and USA Today Network provided a copy of the meeting agenda for the approval of the practice gym.

If it comes to fruition, Green notes that it’s set to be the latest renovation to Auburn Arena. Since he facility opened in 2010, it has experienced $3 million in upgrades to the men’s and women’s locker rooms. Moreover, program also unveiled a new scoreboard with wraparound LED video display following the 2019 season.

To answer the elephant in the room, the anticipation is that the new practice gym and facility upgrades would be funded by gift funds and bonds, according to the meeting materials. The debt service of the bonds paid for by athletics department funds, writes Green.

Auburn announces plans to unveil Sonny Smith banner

Continuing, more positive changes are coming to Auburn Arena. Earlier this week, the program that it will honor a program great in Sonny Smith.

Auburn said in a press release that the Tigers will hoist a Sonny Smith banner in Auburn Arena on Jan. 29, during the pregame ceremonies prior to tip-off against Oklahoma, honoring the first head coach to ever lead Auburn to the NCAA Tournament.

“I can’t even explain what it means to me to receive this honor,” Smith said. “This is a place where I chose to coach and I wanted to be at Auburn. After I left, I knew I was coming back. To have something like this happen it’s overwhelming for me. I am thrilled to death for my family, all the former players that played for me and staff that I coached with. Auburn is a special place and it’s a great honor. To have this type of thing happen at a place that you love this much, you can’t put into words what it means.”

Smith was hired by Auburn in 1978, and he proceeded to coach the Tigers to a decade-plus of success until 1989. He guided Auburn to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1984, a year in which the Tigers were led by future Hall of Fame forward Charles Barkley. Smith was named the SEC Coach of the Year that season, an award he won twice in his Auburn career.