Oregon State announced plans Monday to renovate Gill Coliseum prior to the start of the men's and women's basketball seasons in November.
The renovations, which the school said will be funded by approximately $2 million in private donations, will center around four primary elements: a new sound system with loudspeakers throughout the arena, the replacement of the seats throughout the lower bowl, renovations of the first floor bathrooms and the movement of the primary television camera to the opposite side of the stadium.
A start date for the changes has not been announced. OSU is still in talks with a company to complete the renovations, according to an athletics department spokesman.
Oregon State deputy athletic director Zack Lassiter said in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive that the changes would be the first in a stage of other projects to improve the stadium, which opened in 1949. The next step will be securing funding for future projects, which he declined to specifically discuss.
"After this year, we'll do the same thing. We'll look at what other stuff can we get done," Lassiter said. "I think we're looking at a period of time where the entire department believes that this is our time to make investments in infrastructure and there's clearly going to be a return in that investment because of the quality of coaches that are in place."
According to a release from the school, the new seats in the lower bowl will have cup-holders, improved padding and a higher sightline. Lassiter said the chairs and bleachers throughout the bowl will change from orange to black.
The change in camera placement will shift the television presentation focus from the two team benches to the OSU student section across the court, a move Lassiter said was made to highlight growing student attendance.
Overall Gill Coliseum attendance for men's basketball games hit an all-time low during the 2013-14 season, the final year Craig Robinson served as head coach. According to numbers provided by the OSU athletic department, an average of 625 students attended Pac-12 games that season. That number rose to 1,176 per conference game during the 2014-15 season and 1,218 last season.
Assuming the camera configurations in all other Pac-12 basketball arenas remain the same as last season, Gill Coliseum will be the only stadium in the conference with a camera not facing both benches. Lassiter said the athletic department discussed moving the student section behind the Oregon State and visiting benches but wanted to keep the separation between the student section and the players.
A look at the new court design planned for Gill Coliseum.
"That was an option we looked at, but player safety was a concern and creating an environment where your students are right behind your visiting team bench is not something that we thought was the right decision to make," he said.
The alteration means the court design will be redone so the logo and text faces the new camera location. A picture of the design in the release features block text for "Ralph Miller Court" above the repainted Beaver logo at center court. The sidelines remain black, while the free throw lanes are no longer painted.
Gill Coliseum, which seats 9,604 fans for basketball games, also hosts volleyball, wresting and gymnastics. It is the second-oldest basketball facility in the Pac-12, following Hec Edmundson Pavilion at the University of Washington (1927). The arena in Seattle underwent major renovations costing a reported $44.5 million in 1999, while the Oregon State stadium has seen more modest changes.
The school most recently renovated the main lobby in the arena during last season, a process that ended during Pac-12 play. The most recent significant addition for the school's basketball programs was the OSU Basketball Center, the multi-level practice facility next to Gill Coliseum that opened in 2013.
Oregon State renovated the front lobby at Gill Coliseum during the 2015-16 basketball season.
OSU updated locker rooms in 2006, added video boards and repainted the building's exterior in 2008.
The new changes will come after unprecedented recent success for both of the school's basketball program.
The Oregon State men's team reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1990. They saw an 18.3 percent increase in season ticket sales last season from Wayne Tinkle's first year as head coach.
The women's basketball team reached the Final Four for the first time in program history during Scott Rueck's sixth season in Corvallis. Season ticket purchases for the women's basketball team increased by 50.1 percent from the previous year.
"At no time has the excitement about our teams that compete in Gill Coliseum been higher; now is the time to capitalize and move forward in the investment in our programs," Oregon State athletic director Todd Stansbury said in a statement.
Both Tinkle and Rueck signed contract extensions following their respective seasons, both of which end in 2022.
-- Danny Moran