USC Approves Campus Arena

After years of speculation and false starts, the USC Board of Trustees has given approval for an on-campus basketball arena to be built within the next five years.

The so-called “multipurpose campus events center”--part of a larger university expansion--would be used for men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball as well as concerts and traveling theatrical productions.

The size, cost and location of the arena have not been announced, but sources close to the university say administrators are hoping to build a 12,000-seat facility at the corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street.

The announcement might be met with skepticism from those who have heard similar promises from USC in recent years. But it also comes as welcome news to a hopeful men’s basketball program that has been openly dissatisfied with playing its games before sparse crowds at the aging Sports Arena.

“For the first time, [the on-campus arena] has the full endorsement of the trustees and administration,” USC President Steven Sample said. “In that sense, we now have the green light to go out and raise the money.”

Most of that fund-raising must be done by the athletic department, which has expressed confidence it can quickly find the necessary donors. Once the money is in hand, an architect will be hired and the board of trustees will be asked to consider a specific site, Sample said.

Construction could begin soon after, Sample said.

Other facilities planned as part of the campus expansion include: a science and engineering center, a student center, an international-themed residential college and a separate performing arts center. The university also hopes to build a health care consultation center and a neurogenetics research facility at the USC Health Sciences Campus.

“We’d like all seven facilities up and open within five years,” Sample said. “For a package of construction this large, that’s a very ambitious goal.”

The arena is seen as an addition to the emerging downtown corridor, a string of entertainment attractions that extends from Dodger Stadium to the north, past civic center’s arts facilities and the Staples Center, south to Exposition Park and the Coliseum.

Sample credited Athletic Director Mike Garrett for helping to garner support for the new USC facility.

“He’s the one who, over the last five years, has graciously but persistently made the case that we need this campus events center,” Sample said.

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Staff writer Earl Gustkey contributed to this story.