Despite ongoing talks about the renovation of Pauley Pavilion for the last year and a half, students should not expect to see construction signs on Bruin Walk anytime soon.
Currently, the project is in its design development phase, which focuses on integrating the schematic work with the functional requirements of the building, such as electrical and mechanical needs and heating. The next step in the process will be working drawings, at which point the drawings will be compiled into a package and sent out for bid to construction companies. Only after all of this is complete will the physical renovation begin. This renovation is currently scheduled to begin in 2010 and is projected for completion by fall 2012 in time for the 2012-2013 basketball season.
Despite recurring dialogues over past years to upgrade the building, the most concerted effort was initiated within the last year and a half.
Ken Weiner, a senior associate athletic director for the school, said there are multiple motivations for bringing the renovation of Pauley back into the discussion, including the need for UCLA to remain competitive in the recruiting process of student-athletes.
“We’re now competing with a major range,” Weiner said. “Back in the day it was “˜where else would you go’, but today there are options. For us to compete, we’ve got to make now not only the patrons happy but you have to make your student-athletes happy.”
Weiner also noted the necessity of bringing the building up to code in terms of its mechanics and technology. He credited the progressive outlook of the new administration in athletics for organizing this effort to improve the building.
The Pauley Pavilion that exists today will not be replaced but revamped and restored.
“We’re not going to take the building away because it’s iconic,” Weiner said. “We’re not trying to make any big statements about hiding the building, we’re trying to enhance it.”
New additions will include a facade with brick accents that correspond to the architecture of UCLA’s central campus. Weiner said it will “give a new presence to Bruin Walk.”
There will also be a new entry way from Bruin Walk into the arena and an interior concourse on the south side of the building across from Spaulding Field that will extend 40 feet from the building.
Construction is scheduled to begin during the 2010-2011 season and conclude by the 2012-2013 season. If everything goes according to plan, intercollegiate athletic teams that utilize Pauley will be displaced for only one season, 2011-2012.
“The first season we would be doing things around the building that would not prohibit playing inside,” Weiner said.
During the 2011-2012 season, Weiner said that it is likely the volleyball teams and gymnastics will relocate to somewhere else on campus, such as Collins Court in the Wooden Center. Women’s basketball may be relocated to SAC.
For men’s basketball, the department is considering the option of “taking the show on the road,” where the team would play at venues such as the Staples Center, the Honda Center and the Forum in an effort to promote the program and the university.
Even with the new elements the fundamental components, such as the trusk roof, that define Pauley Pavilion and its legacy will remain untouched.
“Pauley is basically staying the way it’s always been,” Weiner said. “You may walk in and see new seats and a new scoreboard, but it’s going to be the same Pauley Pavilion.”