At UNLV’s Pavilion, it’s ready, set … pour!

Steve Addy

Monday, July 3, 2000 | 11:03 a.m.

The hole is dug, the cement is ready to pour. Finally, after a year's delay, UNLV's $13.5 million Cox Pavilion will soon become the newest jewel of the university's athletic complex.

After the approval of permits by the state and county, construction is set to begin on the two-story facility, which will connect to the Thomas & Mack Center with an elevated walkway called The Link. Completion is targeted for mid-February.

The Pavilion, which will seat up to 3,500, will be more than a home court for the UNLV women's basketball and volleyball teams and a practice site for the men's basketball team. It will be a full-service venue with enough space to host boxing, concerts, trade shows and other events.

"We'll begin pouring concrete Wednesday, pouring the bases for the elevators," director of planning and construction Mike Enoch said. "We've been doing demolition for the last couple of weeks. We had to tear out some old exit stairs. Now the real construction is beginning."

It has been a long time coming. The Pavilion was designed in 1998 as a three-story facility, but financing delays put the project well behind its intended September 1999 opening. Cost estimations rose to $16.5 million -- $6 million over budget -- so the facility had to be scaled back.

A mezzanine level was eliminated, the men's locker room was cut roughly in half to 6,000 square feet and a $13.5 million budget was approved by the state Board of Regents. Cox Communications gave $5 million, and Pavilion revenues will provide most of the remaining funds.

"There will be no difference in what the public will see," Enoch said. "We lost some storage space and the locker room will be smaller. But we didn't really lose much seating. This will be an outstanding facility. It will be state of the art and it will help the athletic program.

"But it won't be a sports-only facility. It is primarily for sports, but with the padded seats and the acoustics, it will be a prime concert facility. It could give a formidable challenge to the House of Blues (at Mandalay Bay) and the Hard Rock."

Thomas & Mack Center director Pat Christenson said, "The Cox Pavilion addresses the needs of our teams, provides us with new revenue streams, and it keeps the environment here as modern as it can be. Between the Pavilion, the Mack and Sam Boyd Stadium, we've got three venues from 3,000 to 50,000 seats and they're all state of the art."

The Pavilion will contain permanent seating for 2,600, and floor seats can increase capacity to 3,500. Besides the main arena, it will feature a separate full-size practice court, locker rooms for three UNLV teams, two visiting locker rooms, a workout facility for employees and its own box office.

The Link could become the Pavilion's showpiece. The walkway to the Thomas & Mack Center will include a concessions court, UNLV memorabilia displays and interactive areas.

Provided the Pavilion opens in mid-February, its first events will be women's basketball games.

"We are going to try hard for Feb. 15," Enoch said. "We'd like to have a couple of (Lady Rebels) games this season as a soft opening. I think it's important for their recruiting to get them in the building this year. We promised them they'd be in there the whole season, and it didn't happen, so maybe we can get them partially what we promised."

Though Lady Rebels coach Regina Miller feels moving to the Pavilion next season would be better for marketing, she is eager for the facility to be completed.

"It's going to be a big boost for our program," Miller said. "It'll give us the feeling of a home court. It will be a great advantage to practice and play on the same court."