The third and final phase of the three-year renovation project will end by the time the Dayton women's basketball team takes the floor at 7 p.m., Nov. 1, for an exhibition game against Ashland, said Scott DeBolt, director of UD Arena.
“On time,” DeBolt said. “On budget.”
» EARLIER COVERAGE: A rundown of final renovations
DeBolt expects the UD Arena basketball floor to be installed no later than Oct. 27 or 28 and the Dayton Flyers men’s and women’s teams to get practice time on their home court a couple days before their exhibition games. This is the third straight year the teams haven’t played the Red and Blue scrimmage in front of fans.
» LOOKING BACK: Legends say goodbye to old Tartan court
The men’s team plays Cedarville in its lone public exhibition game at 5 p.m., Nov. 2, and plays its first regular-season game Nov. 9 against Indiana State. The women’s team plays Lipscomb at 7 p.m., Nov. 5, at UD Arena in its first regular-season game.
The renovations have been on schedule for the last three years, but that doesn’t mean DeBolt doesn’t worry about everything getting done on time.
» PHASE TWO: Fans got first look in November| Photos from inside
“Anytime you start a project like this, in particular with the short window you have in the summertime with each of the phases, it’s always a challenge,” DeBolt said. “We’ll get down to the end, and there will be a few areas that won’t quite be finalized or finished, but we had that last year and we had that year before. That’s expected. The No. 1 thing is to be able to have occupancy and play basketball.”
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