Arena Is Still a Hoop Dream

The slightest smile -- a wary expression -- crosses Henry Bibby’s face.

In the seven years he has been USC’s basketball coach, Bibby has heard plenty about plans to build a $70-million arena on campus.

But with another college basketball season coming to an end and ground not yet broken, he must remain patient. After all, he says, “I don’t have the money to do it.”

Money is key -- the university has not found a corporation willing to pay tens of millions of dollars to put its name on the proposed 12,000-seat facility. Now, in a weak economy, amid rumors of war, administrators have quietly adapted.

While still seeking a corporate sponsor, they have put more emphasis on private donors.

“If you get a big gift, it could happen very quickly,” said Todd R. Dickey, university vice president and general counsel. “If you don’t, it could take longer.”

It could mean raising construction funds a few million dollars at a time.

Sources within the university, speaking on condition of anonymity, said several donors had made seven-figure pledges within the last year. The football team’s recent Orange Bowl victory could add to that momentum.

The athletic department has raised “a significant portion” of the needed money, Dickey said, though he refused to be specific. “We think we’ve done very well.”

In the meantime, the clock continues to tick on a project that has been around, in one form or another, for decades. A respected executive in the naming-rights field wonders if the months and years are weighing against USC.

“It’s no different from a home being on the market for a long time,” said Jeff Knapple, president of Envision, which negotiated multimillion-dollar deals for the Home Depot National Training Center in Carson, Staples Center and Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

“Questions are raised,” he said. “ ‘What’s the problem? Are they asking too much?’ It can get stale.”

Certainly the arena is a sensitive topic around campus. President Steven Sample declined to be interviewed for this article, as did Athletic Director Mike Garrett.

More than three years have passed since they announced a renewed arena campaign, Garrett calling it “a historic day at USC.”

Since then, architects have drawn preliminary sketches of an impressive-looking structure beside the Harbor Freeway, its red brick and stone matching the campus motif. Sample has emphasized that the facility would house not only men’s and women’s teams in a variety of sports but also the arts and community events.

But as the target date for completion -- January 2002 -- came and went, the estimated cost rose. Athletic department officials had to make cost-cutting changes to stay within their $70-million limit.

Harder to solve has been the imposed timetable for paying construction costs. In accordance with a campuswide dictum, the athletic department must settle its bills within 11 quarters of receiving final approval from the board of trustees.

That time frame -- roughly the span from design to occupancy -- does not fit comfortably in a marketplace where corporations pay naming-rights money over 15 years or longer.

The athletic department had to reject a sizable offer from a corporation that wanted to pay over 20 years.

Still, the university shows no sign of relaxing its policy. “We’ve already used our debt to the extent we can,” Dickey said. “Borrowing isn’t going to work.”

This approach could hinder the project in an economy where deals are tough to come by, Knapple said.

“Certainly they haven’t been able to find a company to step up,” he said. “I think you have to start questioning if this is the right strategy.”

As time passes, donors who have already handed over their money can only watch it sit in a special account.

And though USC has proven itself a fund-raiser for academics, receiving three gifts of more than $100 million in the last decade, Knapple says drawing support for an arena is different.

“It’s a shame,” he added. “The football program has turned around. The basketball program has done well the last two seasons. The university deserves a world-class arena.”

Such a facility would help the basketball and volleyball teams in their recruiting efforts.

Just last fall, Bibby competed for top Los Angeles player Ekene Ibekwe, who listed USC among his final two choices. But after a visit to Maryland, which opened an 18,000-seat arena in the aftermath of its 2002 national championship, Ibekwe committed to the Terrapins.

For now, Bibby talks up the aging Sports Arena: “I don’t think it’s as bad as people think it is.” He is too busy guiding his young team through what’s left of a difficult season to worry about much else.

Still, he cannot help imagining what it would be like to bring recruits into a sparkling arena.

“Every kid would like to play in a new building,” he said. “Of course you think about that.”