CSUN to Study Construction of Facilities

A committee has been formed to determine priorities for construction and improvements of future athletic facilities at Cal State Northridge, Athletic Director Bob Hiegert announced Wednesday.

The five-person panel, chaired by Hiegert, held an organizational meeting in June and plans to meet again next month. The project is designed to “determine the needs of the university in terms of an arena, a stadium, (classrooms), student activity and community needs,” Hiegert said.

Joining Hiegert on the committee are Ann Stutz, chairman of CSUN’s physical education department; David Whitwell, band director; Mark Crase, assistant director of operations for the student union; and Jack Foley, associate director of leisure studies and recreation.

Northridge sports teams, with the exception of football, are scheduled to join the NCAA Division I in the fall of 1990.

A 30,000-seat outdoor stadium already is planned as part of the school’s University Park project, but ground-breaking for that facility might be as much as five years away. The construction of an indoor arena also has been proposed, but funding has not been found.

The Ogden Corp., a New York-based conglomerate, is in the final stages of a feasibility study on the arena. Elliott Mininberg, a CSUN administrative vice president, said Wednesday that Ogden is due to file its report with the school next week.

Based on the information it has gathered, Ogden will suggest alternatives for Northridge to consider. There is a possibility, Mininberg said, that the company might even offer to finance all or part of a project in exchange for certain management rights.

Hiegert said that determining the need for renovation of existing facilities, as well as new construction, “is going to be a long, slow” process--and one that could change drastically if Ogden or a private donor were to offer financial assistance.