Construction of Saint Louis University’s on-campus Arena will begin by September and be completed in time for the 2008-09 season, SLU’s Board of Trustees announced Sunday. The trustees approved an updated design that included two significant changes: It lowered the Arena’s seating capacity from 13,000 to 10,000 and included space for athletic department offices and a practice facility. Even with the decrease in seating, the Arena will rank among the top four in capacity in the Atlantic 10. “We are going to have a first-class facility with the perfect atmosphere for basketball, plus all the amenities needed to recruit top athletes to our Division I programs,” said Director of Athletics Cheryl Levick in a University press release. Removing 3,000 seats from the design made room in the budget for offices and practice space, while leaving enough seating to keep tickets in high demand. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that men’s basketball games have averaged 9,011 fans per game this season. The Arena “is a huge upgrade, because the facility will have everything our program needs to succeed at the next level,” men’s basketball coach Brad Soderberg said in a University press release. “We’re excited that it’s going to get started in the next few months.” The University is still $12 million short of reaching the $39-million fund-raising goal for the project, but construction will not be delayed if the amount is not raised by September. According to a University press release, SLU officials are confident that they can reach the goal within the next nine to 12 months. In addition to fund raising, the Arena will be financed by $8 million in TIF (tax increment financing) funding and bonds that will be paid off with the Arena’s future revenue. Construction is estimated to cost $77 million, and, with design and other fees, the total cost for the Arena reaches $80 million. In 2003, when SLU first announced the intention to build the new facility, University officials estimated that the project would cost $70 million. As the University announced in December 2003, the Arena will be built on the east end of campus, near the intersection of Compton Avenue and Interstate 64/Highway 40. There, it will be visible to the hundreds of thousands of motorists who pass by each year. The Arena will house a variety of events, including concerts, family shows, trade shows and commencement ceremonies. In addition to the department offices and two-court practice facility, the Arena will have locker rooms and areas for strength and conditioning and sports medicine. For fans, the design includes luxury boxes, party rooms and a Billiken Club. Women’s basketball coach Shimmy Gray said that the Arena will enable SLU to compete with athletic programs at larger universities in attracting the best recruits. “I took this [coaching] job based on the understanding that the Arena would be built,” Gray said. “I know how hard it is to attract top-notch recruits. I’ll be able to take them to the construction site and tell them, ‘You will be playing in this Arena.'” Women’s volleyball coach Anne Kordes echoed this sentiment. “The biggest message that brand-new facilities send to our recruits is that our administration cares about our athletic program. It’s not just that our athletic director wants us to win-she’s giving us the support we need to win,” Kordes said. Kordes said that one of the advantages of coaching at a school the size of SLU is the intimacy of the athletic department, which will be preserved when all of the offices and practice space move to the Arena. “The amount of time I get to spend learning [with] and talking to the other coaches makes for a very unified athletic department – we’re all gaining from each other, learning from each other and supporting each other,” Kordes said. “We get that opportunity based on our working environment.” Women’s basketball and volleyball games are currently played in the West Pine Gym, a facility that was built in the 1920s. Men’s basketball games have not been played on SLU’s campus since 1945. In addition to hosting both men’s and women’s basketball games, the Arena’s practice facility will have moveable seating to accommodate women’s volleyball games. Bringing all of these athletic events to the same building will “increase the exposure for everyone – when one sport does well, all of us [will] gain,” Kordes said. “It’s going to be a hot ticket and an exciting environment-it will really mean something to have a ticket to a SLU game.”