UMBC To Build $85M Athletic Facility, President Says

By Jeff Seidel

New director Tim Hall isn't the only change UMBC is making in its athletics department. 

An $85 million events center is in the plans, something school president Freeman A. Hrabowski talked about recently at a news conference introducing Hall. 

“It is a big deal that we’re talking about, an $85 million construction,” Hrabowski said. “It will change the campus completely. We’re on our way. They know that we are doing very well academically and we want to do better and better athletically.”

Towson University just opened its new facility this summer, and the basketball teams will play there this winter. 

Hrabowski said ground-breaking could be in 2015 with construction expected to take 18-24 months.

The new facility would take arena events from the RAC, located inside The Loop, and move them near the current stadium facility.

Hall, who started at UMBC earlier this summer, said the project was a selling point for the school when talking about the job. 

“That was big,” Hall said. “We want all of our sports to win championships, but we know that basketball needs to be successful, and what a great recruiting tool…but certainly to have a facility that will really not be rivaled [is good]."

TELL US: How does an athletic facility change your perspective about a college campus? Leave a comment.