First Pitch
A ballpark project in South Korea, Cheongna SSG Baseball Stadium and Commercial Complex, will be the world’s first baseball stadium with an integrated shopping mall. Pittsburgh-based DLA+ Architecture and Interior Design has been selected as the design architect for the stadium, which will become the new home for the SSG Landers in the Korea Baseball Organization. The covered stadium will seat 21,000 guests and connect to the Starfield shopping mall. Operating year-round as a multipurpose sports and entertainment venue, the facility will host various activities, including sports, concerts and more. Fans can also take advantage of an upper deck infinity pool, which will offer a view of the ballpark. The project is expected to be completed for the 2028 season.
Image courtesy of La Salle University
La Salle University in Philadelphia has unveiled plans to renovate TruMark Financial Center for a reimagined college basketball experience. The upgraded arena will feature a 360-degree bowl design that will change the court from its exiting north-to-south orientation to an east-to-west orientation. Upgrades to the videoboards, audio system, lighting and in-game production are also planned to enhance the fan experience. A hospitality area and additional premium seating surrounding the court will be added, as well. The completed arena is projected to open for the 2024-25 basketball season.
The Colorado Buffaloes will begin construction on a new $15 million videoboard planned for the 2024 season. The new board will be more than five times the surface area of the old board, measuring 130 feet wide by 36 feet high — 8 feet taller and 98 feet wider than the current board.
Grand Openings
A $12 million revamp of the University at Albany’s Broadview Center — previously SEFCU Arena — adds immersive fan experiences and expands community-based opportunities at the home of Great Danes men’s and women’s basketball. The court has been rotated 90 degrees from its old position, and each team now has its own spacious locker room, including theater seating for film study.
Eagles Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., recently reopened after an $850,000 seating renovation project that added about 200 seats, which will allow the arena a total of 500 spectators. Permanent seating now spans one side of the ice, including 50 barstool seats. The renovation, which was the first update to the arena since 2013, also includes locker room updates. Eagles Arena is the home of the Red River High School hockey teams and offers youth and adult hockey and figure skating.
Breaking Ground
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Athletics has begun construction on the 45,000-square-foot Vaqueros Performance Center, which will house the football program and be used by multiple sports. The project includes one natural grass practice field and one synthetic turf practice field that will be available for football and soccer. The center will also house a strength and conditioning facility for use by football and other athletics programs, an academic support center, a football locker room, football coaches’ offices, a sports medicine facility and a team room with stadium-style seating. The center is expected to be completed by fall 2025.
