Report: UNC to explore renovation to Dean E. Smith Center, potential new arena

North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham has brought together a group to spearhead potential renovations to the Dean E. Smith Center.

The committee will represent the men’s and women’s basketball programs in Chapel Hill, as well as the Rams Club, UNC’s NIL Collective, and the university’s Board of Trustees.

“We actually had a plan 10 years ago that we could have acted upon, and we didn’t,” Cunningham told Inside Carolina, via Greg Barnes. “This is, quite frankly, another iteration of looking at our future and saying, ‘Okay, where are we today? Where do we think we need to be in the future? And what’s the best path to get there?’ And that includes a basketball study. The other night, we had 21,000 people with a single concourse.

“It was a great atmosphere, but some of the amenities and services that you’d like to provide an elite program, we just can’t do that right now, because of the facility that we have. So how can we continue to make sure that we remain elite?”

Additionally, according to Barnes, the possibility of a new arena will at least be considered.

According to Inside Carolina’s report, the initial plan in 2013 could have seen premium club seating be put in place behind the west basketball goal, which would be located above the lower level seats. More premium seating was suggested near the main concourse on the arena’s north side. Cunningam said that this was a way to make the “least desirable seats,” and turn them into ones considered “very desirable.”

Instead of acting upon those plans set a decade ago, Cunningham and the UNC athletic department set their focus on improving their Olympic sports which included new stadiums for soccer, lacrosse and field hockey, as well as a brand new outdoor track & field complex. They also complete a new practice facility for the football team.

Now, it seems to be the basketball team’s turn. Although, there is no timetable for these additions, or potential new arena to be completed.

“It is all still very much a work in progress,” UNC Board of Trustees chair John Preyer told Inside Carolina in the same report. “There is obviously a strong constituency that would like to see the current location stay the same, but what is crystal clear is that we need more suites and a greater fan experience leading up to the game and a greater utilization of our resources in a way that benefits the game day and fan experience.

“One recommendation that I found especially interesting did not come from this working group but from someone who is a fan and suggested you take out an end zone section of the Dean Dome, build luxury suites there, and in effect, have a tailgate in that area before the game, starting at lunchtime before an evening game, show old game videos, have former players there and make it an experience to go to the game. We’re a long way from that right now.”