Arizona State basketball arena 'completely functional', ASU president Michael Crow says
Arizona State University President Michael Crow recently made some interesting comments to The State Press about the state of the school's basketball venue, Desert Financial Arena, calling the facility "completely functional" and a "fine facility" while also saying that "it does not determine if we win basketball games at all."
Crow also refuted some comments from his own Athletic Director, Ray Anderson about the venue, which Anderson said was in "dire need" of work last year.
"I don't know what he meant by 'dire,'" Crow told The State Press. "You've been there. It's completely functional. It's actually a fine facility and just needs some updates."
Critics of the arena have called for a new venue for ASU for years, as they consider the venue outdated (it opened in 1974).
Judging by Crow's comments, however, he feels the facility could just use some work.
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The State Press reported that Crow said an update to the arena's air handling system would cost about $25 million. Crow also told that people that seating could be updated, with the possibility to add handrails and spoke of improving the locker rooms.
"There haven't been any serious injuries just seriously from that," Crow said. "… That facility is completely functional. It does not determine if we win basketball games at all."
Last year, Anderson told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM that the school would be pivoting to improve Desert Financial Arena "very quickly."
“We know we have got to address that,” Anderson said. “We said that several years ago. You may remember the original plan was to try to do hockey and basketball together. It became very clear to us that trying to do that combined project in the location was not going to work. We pivoted to focus first on the multi-purpose arena …
“We never lost sight, yes, that Desert Financial … is in dire need, very frankly, of improvements. That is clearly on our radar. I anticipate we will be pivoting to that very quickly, because we need to.”
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Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Michael Crow: Arizona State basketball arena 'just needs some updates'
