PMAC renovations in the works, architects hired, no timeline as of yet

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Soon, the PMAC could have more than just a new video board.

Imagine club level seating, possibly even suites and an expansive entrance lobby.

Those are long-term plans for LSU’s 45-year old basketball arena, school officials revealed Monday during the Tiger Athletic Foundation’s Tiger Tour in Baton Rouge. Architects have already been at work on possible plans for the arena, said Eddie Nunez, LSU’s deputy director of athletics in charge of projects.

The two areas of emphasis are the entrance to the building, currently two ramps up to the second floor, and premium seating, which is nonexistent at the PMAC.

“We’ve already had some conceptual plans drawn up to see kind of how we make it better,” Nunez said. “We had some architects do some preliminary work. It is something we really need to do for that venue.”

The arena is getting a new four-sided video board, suspended over midcourt, this summer. The HD-quality board is scheduled for installation in July, Nunez said.

There are plenty of other changes coming in the future.

Athletic director Joe Alleva told the crowd on Monday that he’d like to raze the two ramps, replacing them, potentially, with escalators and constructing a “nice lobby in the front of the building.”

On the inside, officials are hoping to remove seating, possibly decreasing the 13,215 capacity, in order to add club or suite levels, Alleva and Nunez said.

“It has to be modernized,” Alleva said of the PMAC. “I’d like to build a club level at the PMAC. Just like in football and baseball we have club areas. We need a club area in the PMAC. Those will be plans we’re laying out here in the near future I hope.”

The location of the club level is uncertain, Nunez said. The most illogical would be on the floor level because that would remove too many seats, he said. The ideal location is on the second or third (top) tier of the arena.

“The good part about it is our second level really isn’t a second level traditionally. It’s not far up,” Nunez said. “If you take that area ... Is that the best? Or is it the third level? Those are things (architects) are going to try to figure out.”

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The nutrition center will be attached to the football operations building, athletic director Joe Alleva said Monday at a Tiger Athletic Foundation Tiger Tour event in Baton Rouge. The news is no surprise, as officials said two weeks ago they were “aggressively” exploring the possibility of having the nutrition center included in the scheduled expansion to the football operations building.

The nutrition center, an athlete-only, glorified dining hall, would be one of several additions to the operations facility during a facelift of the 12-year-old building.

After the 2017 season, crews will begin renovating several aspects of the center, including coaches’ offices, the players’ lounge, locker room and training rooms. Coaches will have to work from temporary offices in trailers for several months, Alleva said. The renovations, including the addition of the nutrition center, are expected to last through the 2018 season, he said.

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