Irvine : Ground Broken at UCI for Bren Events Center

The patch of earth was about 7 feet long and 3 feet wide, and had the eerie look of a new grave.

Workers had prepared the hard soil, next to Crawford Gymnasium at UC Irvine, so dignitaries at a ground-breaking ceremony Thursday wouldn’t get blisters. But the grave-shaped patch of ground had an ominous look, so Chancellor Jack Peltason made a wry joke.

Looking at the “grave” in front of him, Peltason said: “I came not to bury the Events Center, but to praise it.” The audience of about 150 broke into laughter at the Shakespearean paraphrase.

The ground breaking, under a hot midday sun, was for UC Irvine’s new $13.5-million gymnasium-auditorium, which will be called the Donald Bren Events Center. Completion is expected by late 1986.

The center, designed to seat 6,000 people, will be second only to the Anaheim Convention Center in indoor seating capacity in Orange County. It will be used for concerts, cultural events and athletic events, replacing the cramped, 1,500-seat Crawford Gym.

Thomas Nielsen, president of the Irvine Co. and chairman of the committee that is raising private funds to pay part of the cost of the center, told the crowd that $3.4 million of the $3.8-million goal has been reached.

The Irvine Co. kicked off the fund drive last year with a $500,000 gift. Later, Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren personally donated another $1 million, and the university, in appreciation, voted to name the new facility in his honor.

In brief remarks Thursday, Bren thanked the other private donors, saying, “Without your special support, we would not be here at this ground-breaking ceremony. A great scholar once said that ‘Man first shapes his buildings; afterwards, the buildings shape man.’ And so it will be with this Campus Events Center.”