Aug. 20, 2009
By Richard Stevens — Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
A media tour of The Pit’s massive renovation project is an eye-opening experience. However, to fully appreciate the horizons that this $60 million facelift will bring to the University of New Mexico, Lobo fans, and the state, you have to shut your eyes, too.
You have to see the future.
You have envision the Lobo men’s and women’s teams doing their thing on the Bob King Floor surrounded by Lobo fans in suites and club sections and enjoying the spacious offerings of a modern-day facility.
You have to envision an NCAA men’s tournament in an arena that will be one of the nation’s finest. You have to envision the views a more-open Pit will provide of the Sandia Mountains, the panoramic Rio Grande Valley, and Albuquerque Downtown skyline.
You have to envision The Pit when all the holes have been filled in and all the bells, whistles and glass have been set in place.
Tim Cass, the Lobos’ Senior Associate Athletics Director, was like a proud father leading a group of media members through the outer, skeletal structure of The Pit’s renovation.
He held up the drawings of how University Arena would look when all the work was completed. He walked the media through and around the work project, pointing out the highlights of the 60,000 square feet of new Pit.
There were more than a few big hitters from the media on the tour including Rick Wright (Journal), Mark Smith (Journal), Ken Sickenger (Journal), Scott Galetti (KKOB), Joe Behrend (KNML). The media donned their bright orange vests, their hard hats, their safety glasses and followed Cass through the work and into the future.
It was much easier to see how much more spacious The Pit would be when you stood inside the arena and saw how the structure had been gutted, expanded and raised.
It was easier to grasp the dynamics of the views eventually to be found looking out from The Pit and looking down on the floor. The tour included a walk up to the suite-level of Pit where the views of the Sandia Mountains and the Rio Grande Valley could be seen. There is a view from a balcony area where a Lobo fan can look West, North and East from the same spot. Nice.
Still, what has always made The Pit impressive hasn’t changed — the everyday fans. It’s reassuring that this look into the future includes a warm embrace with some old ways.
The sunken bowl aspect of The Pit is alive and well. The fans still will surround their Lobos and surround the enemy of Lobos. “Our passionate fans are the ones who make the building,” said Paul Krebs, UNM’s Vice President in charge of athletics.
All fans will benefit greatly from The Pit’s surge into the future. The widening of the concourse level allows fans to walk and mingle in a comfortable environment surrounded by more and better concessions and more and better restrooms. The Lobo Store will be expanded.
There really isn’t any aspect of the new Pit that won’t make a Lobo game more enjoyable for a fan.
Cass reminded the media that 95 percent of the labor force is New Mexico workers. Cass also told the media that 95 percent of the demolition work is completed on the project that is scheduled to be completed in by November of 2010. The Pit was built in 1966.
There are approximately 200 workers currently on site on The Pit project. Cass said there will be up to 300 on site during various stages of the work. He said the new concourses should be completed by mid-September and ready for the traffic flow of the 2009-10 season.
Yes, a lot of the new-look Pit will be completed for this season’s sessions of Steve Alford and Don Flanagan basketball. But there is a lot more to come.
Cass’s tour of The Pit — with eyes open and eyes closed — left you with a singular thought: “Hurry up.” The vision of what’s to come for all Lobo fans makes it you eager for November of 2010.