Officials Consider Renovating IAB Facilities, Briggs Cage

The Athletics Department is considering renovating and expanding the Indoor Athletic Building (IAB), providing a moveable floor for the University hockey rink and renovating Briggs Cage, John P. Reardon, Jr., director of Athletics, said yesterday.

Athletics department officials said, however, that there were no plans to build a new facility for basketball.

"We do need more floor space, for both intercollegiate basketball and fencing and we have begun to investigate the possiblities," Reardon said.

Joseph A. Bertagna, '73, director of sports information, said "a couple of years ago the plans for new athletic facilities included a building for basketball. There are intercollegiate, intramural and recreational schedules which we have to contend with. Obviously, the basketball people would like to see a new building, but for economic reasons we just can't do it."

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Reardon agreed that the cost of a basketball facility would be too high. "A facility which could seat 3000 spectators would cost $4 million. It would also run us $150,000 a year in operating costs," he said.

Instead, the University may renovate and alter the IAB, Reardon said. Possibilities include building a floor over the swimming pool and increasing the seating around the basketball court, he added.

"We want to improve the space situation for intercollegiate basketball and fencing. The fencers would probably get half the floor," Reardon said.

Another possibility would be a movable floor for the Bright Arena ice-rink, modelled after the Boston Garden surface. "There would be five teams, the three hockey teams and the two basketball teams, in the same building, though. It would be awkward," Bertagna said. Reardon emphasized the cost of this complicated system.

The improvements would cost "substantially less than $4 million" according to Reardon.