When Fr. Donohue took the helm of Villanova Univeristy in June 2006, he commissioned the develoment of a Campus Master Plan. The goal of which is "creating a roadmap for the future construction, renewal, and maintenance of Villanova’s campus. The Master Plan will assess current and future space needs, and will be an inclusive process involving input from faculty, students, and staff throughout the University."
In the Final Recommendations, there is a small space allocated to The Pavilion.
In short, the University has indentified that The Pavilion is out of date. Their recommendations are pretty basic to any "renovation" to the building; more seating, more concessions (bring in more $$$), and upgrade the locker rooms.
From the Campus Master Plan
(emphasis added)
The Pavilion requires renovation or eventual replacement.
• The Pavilion should be made more accessible to individuals with disabilities. All barriers that can be “readily removed” should be.
The Athletics Department reports the following needs to be considered in any future renovation:
- Seating should be improved and, if possible, increased. A facility with between 8,000 and 9,000 seats would be ideal.
- Increasing the seating in the Pavilion will add to the need for special events parking. By code, one parking space would be required for every 4 seats.
- The pool requires renovation or replacement.
- Locker rooms, including those for visiting teams, should be improved to meet Big East standards.
- An officials’ locker room, with showers, should be added.
- More points of sale for concessions are needed.
- At least a two-lane practice running track should be added.
- The audiovisual system was installed around 1992, and is outdated.
Given the University’s other needs for on campus space, replacement of the Pavilion might be a long-term option, outside the time frame of the master plan. If so, renovations in the nearer term should be considered.
The upgrades to accessibility are considered "Zero Increment" and should be made before any other new construction.
They recognize that there is a lot of "wasted space" in The Pavilion and realize that an extra 1,500-2,500 seats are needed in any rennovation.
About The Pavilion... Built in 1985, The Pavilion is the on-campus home for the Villanova Wildcats. It seats 6,500.
'Nova deafeated the University of Maryland in The Pavilion’s first game on February 1, 1986.
This topic was brought up by NotATravel06 on the VUhoops.com Message Boards. Feel free to chat with other Villanova Fans there.