Providence is continuing its renovation project at Schneider Arena, the 40-year-old home of the Friar men’s and women’s teams, with an expansion and upgrading project that began in November and is slated to be finished in September 2013.
The highlight of the project is a new 30,000 square foot addition that will house a new lobby, ticket office, additional concessions, men’s and women’s locker and training rooms, a varsity lacrosse locker room, strength and conditioning facilities, coaching staff offices and mechanical and operations rooms for arena staff.
The project also includes renovations to the existing arena, including premium seating upgrades, improvements to the press box, additional ADA compliant viewing locations, renovated youth hockey locker rooms and plans for a video board and updated forums.
“We want to showcase the rich history and tradition of the Providence College hockey program,” Providence men’s coach Nate Leaman said in a news release. “Guys like Lou Lamoriello, Brian Burke and Chris Terrieri come to mind in a list that goes on and on. These are special people and teams that have come through our program. We’ve won Hockey East twice and been to the Frozen Four. Anyone who walks in our building needs to know this is a special place to play hockey.”
“It is very exciting to see the renovation construction begin on Schneider Arena,” added PC women’s coach Bob Deraney. “When this renovation is completed, we will have the premier women’s ice hockey training facility in the country, allowing our players to train with state-of-the-art equipment in facilities that no other women’s hockey program has.”
As the extensive project continues to move forward, capacity at the arena has been reduced to 2,089 for the rest of the season.
