Carolina First Center should be ready for season-opening tournament

The schedule is tight, but construction of the College of Charleston's new basketball arena is right on time.

Tim Heichelbech, project manager with Thompson-Turner Construction, said the Carolina First Center should be ready by the projected Nov. 10 completion date.

The first games to be played are scheduled on Nov. 14 in the opening round of the eight-team, ESPN-sponsored Charleston Classic.

"I would say things are on schedule," Heichelbech said. "With a project this size, you're going to have issues to overcome. So far, we've overcome them and maintained the schedule."

The 5,000-seat arena will feature 4,000 chair back seats with approximately 1,000 bench seats for students. Total game-day capacity, including standing-room only, will be 5,300.

Seating is on two levels, with 3,500 on the lower level and 1,500 on the upper level. There's an open concourse that allows fans to see the game while they're at the concession stands.

"The building was designed to create the same atmosphere that you would have in a gym," said project architect Ken Betsch. "It's going to have a big arena feel in some ways, but the seating is pulled really tight, so it's very intimate, and there's not a bad seat in the house."

The project is expected to be completed at an approximate cost of $45 million.

The arena will include office space, an academic support area, and a state of the art sports medicine facility.

"This is going to be a first-class facility," said C of C athletic director Joe Hull. "We can take care of every aspect of the student-athletes who are coming here. It's a big-time upgrade. It's particularly great at the Southern Conference level."

The Cougars will be making the move from the 3,000-seat John Kresse Arena, adjacent to the present construction and named after former coach John Kresse, the man who put C of C basketball on the map.

Although the facility is called the Carolina First Center, Kresse's name will not be forgotten.

At this point, it's uncertain if Kresse will be honored by calling the facility John Kresse Arena at the Carolina First Center, or whether his name will be recognized in a different way.

"We're still working on that," Hull said.

Hull also emphasizes that the additional room in the new arena means that plenty of good seats are still available.

"We've got tickets to sell," Hull said. "So we're going to be out there over the next couple months, pushing and promoting season tickets and tying to get people involved."

With the Charleston Classic scheduled as the opening event in the new arena, there remains a possibility that teams other than the College of Charleston will be involved in the first game ever played in the Carolina First Center.

"We're talking through that conversation now," Hull said. "It's ESPN's tournament, so we may not have our choice. But if we did, would we play at noon on Friday when people are at work or play the 7 p.m. game and not play the first game ever in the building? The way I'm leaning right now is we would be better at 7 p.m. More people could watch us play. I would rather have a great event than be able to put on a piece of paper somewhere that we were in the first game. I can tell you the coaches would rather play the 7 p.m. game."