A rendering depicting part of the main bleachers section (left) and the weight room roof section (right). Rendering courtesy of Facilities, Planning and Construction.
Bleacher renovations are underway at UAA’s Avis Alaska Sports Complex. The new bleachers will feature better comfort with back rests and be up to ADA accessibility standards.
In an interview with The Northern Light, sports complex director Julie Weber explained that the changes are necessary to a growing sports program – especially due to an increase in sports complex use by students and community members.
According to Weber, sports complex attendance on the first day of school was up by 40 people compared to last year. This boost is in line with increased enrollment numbers, and the university’s push to bring students and staff back to campus following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Weber said that the money for the updated bleachers came from “a private donation by [Avis Alaska]” and that “it didn’t come from budget, it didn’t come from student fees, it didn’t come from anything like that.”
Avis Alaska recently received the naming rights to the sports complex following a $1 million grant it provided to the university. Weber said that this grant is what made funding the new bleachers a possibility.
Weber said that construction was intended to be done “prior to school [starting].” However, construction ran behind schedule. Construction began on Sept. 12 and is expected to be completed on Sept. 22 – one day before Seawolf Hockey’s first scrimmage of the season.
With the added safety and accessibility of the new bleachers – including better handrails and wider aisles – comes a cost in the form of space. “We ended up losing almost 100 seats [in the main seating area],” said Weber. To help make up for this, the roof of the sports complex’s Olympic weight room is being upgraded to accommodate 45 seats above it.
“What they decided to do is … remove the ceiling of [of the Olympic weight room] and they’re going to put a cement, weight-bearing [roof] … what’s now the ceiling is now going to become the roof and the ceiling,” said Weber.
These bleacher updates will not, however, be able to fully address the seating demands that existed in the previous season.
Weber said that the hockey team was once part of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The team competed at the Sullivan Arena where crowds attended games by the thousands.
However, Weber explained that the hockey program experienced funding issues that led to it being cut from the school’s budget in 2020. UAA then notified the Western Collegiate Hockey Association that the school would be leaving the league.
Save Seawolf Hockey – a fundraising campaign that formed after the hockey team was cut – successfully raised enough funds to allow the hockey program to restart for the 2022 to 2023 season.
Weber said that games have not been played in the Sullivan Arena because it was used as an emergency homeless shelter during the pandemic.
Instead, the season was played at the university’s sports complex – with the perk of not being subject to the Sullivan Arena’s usage fee.
Weber said that Seawolf Hockey is not able to reenter the hockey Western Collegiate Hockey Association because of the association’s rules on the number of seats that must be available for spectators.
Simply put, the sports complex – even after the ongoing renovations – does not have enough seating to meet the capacity requirements for WCHA membership.
Overall, Weber and others are excited about the possibilities that wouldn’t be available without grant money and increased attendance on campus. “The upgrade in the bleachers will look nice, they’ll look professional … they’ll be gold and green,” said Weber. “It’s just going to get bigger and better.”
.png)
.jpg)
