Iowa to reseat Carver-Hawkeye Arena in 2011

IOWA CITY - Carver-Hawkeye Arena will undergo a reseating plan based on a point system and giving levels beginning with the 2011-12 basketball season.

The plan is similar to Kinnick Stadium's reseating before the 2006 season but with one major difference, according to Mark Jennings, Iowa's associate athletics director for donor and patron services.

“The big thing here is we are not double-dipping our fans,” Jennings said. “So for example if somebody is sitting in Zone 1 in football, and they give $12,000 for two seats, and they want to sit in Zone 1 for basketball, they've already made that contribution.

“I think that's the fear when people heard this. I think the fear was, ‘I'm already giving for football. Now I have to give for basketball, and maybe I don't want to go to all the basketball games.' Their gift toward football counts toward basketball.”

Carver-Hawkeye Arena's $43 million renovation includes a new multi-court practice facility for the basketball and volleyball teams, an 11,000-square foot strength-and-conditioning center and a renovated wrestling complex. Additionally, there will be wider concourses, additional restrooms, new offices for athletics officials and a high-speed elevator.

Jennings said athletics officials have worked on the reseating plan for about 18 months. Seating areas are zoned based on I-Club contributions. Giving levels per seat for zones 1, 2 and 3 are set at $600, $400 and $200, respectively.

Iowa will use a point system to determine seating within the zones. Points are based on annual donations and years as a season-ticket holder. Jennings said all pledges - not just actual cash - toward the renovation will count toward seating. Seating-level points are compiled after the fiscal year ends June 30.

To help pay for the project's debt service, Iowa will introduce premium seating. About 500 seats behind the teams' benches and first 5-8 rows along the sidelines will be considered premium. Cost is a $12,500 per seat donation over a five-year period.

Along with the other physical changes, Iowa will have two club areas in Carver-Hawkeye Arena for key donors. One is for those who have donated at least $25,000, the other is for those who have donated at least $100,000.

“We had to come up a plan that would have some amenities tied to the seats, access to a club room and prime parking,” Jennings said. “Actually reseating Carver was not that hard.”

Behind one basket is a 4,200-seat block reserved for students. Behind the other basket are seating areas for the general public with no contribution level, which is similar to Kinnick's end-zone seating.

Jennings said the department worked through several suggestions before formulating the plan. One was to stretch students around the arena's bottom bowl, similar to Michigan State's Breslin Center.

“Obviously we had to talk about it, but when you're trying to fund a $43 million project, the students aren't asked to pay for that,” Jennings said. “So we had to be realistic. We did move the students closer to opposing bench. We do have the 4,200 seats blocked for the students should they ever come back in those kind of numbers.”

Likewise, with men's basketball's recent attendance woes - Iowa averaged a record-low average attendance of 9,550 last year - there were concerns the plan could add to the arena's already sparse feel.

“Really, we sold enough tickets to fill up last year's zones,” Jennings said. “We sold 9,000 tickets. We sold up enough tickets to fill up zone 1 zone 2. I don't think it will be a problem.

Bottom line, we tried to make sure the fan that was just buying basketball season tickets and maybe football and they were sitting in the end zone, they're sitting in a premium seat for basketball. They just need to do their fair share as far as contributions.”