Lead architect named for new Troy arena

Another big step in a convocation center for Troy University was taken recently.

Two weeks ago, Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood, Inc., a multi-disciplined firm out of Montgomery, was named the lead architect in the building of Troy’s multi-purpose center, which will house the school’s basketball team and have the ability to host other events, such as concerts. The hopes are the new arena will be ready for the 2011-2012 basketball season.

GMC will partner with Populous, a global design practice based out of Kansas City but with offices all around the world.

Populous has assisted with more than 50 sports facilities worldwide, including developing the sports master plan for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the new Yankee Stadium.

GMC and Populous were among several applicants who had submitted proposals for Troy’s new facility.

“All of the companies that presented to us were first class,” Troy athletics director Steve Dennis said.

“GMC and Populous were just a better fit for what we want to do. We’re just excited to get the ball rolling for this.”

Bill Wallace, the executive vice-president and secretary of GMC, will be the principal of this project. Wallace has been with the company since 1986. He felt that presenting their proposal with the world-famous Populous would enhance their chances, and it did.

But there are no sketches, or even a set location. While the project will be fast-paced, it’s still in the infancy stages.

“The design is such a lengthy process and the cost, on top of that,” Wallace said.

“The whole process has to unfold. We’re in the fact-finding stages right now.”

Both Dennis and Wallace said the proposal team will look at other arenas and decide if aspects of those would fit in well with the design and budget at Troy. One arena Dennis mentioned is the Jack Stephens Center at Arkansas-Little Rock.

“We’ll see what we like and what we can do and give it to Bill and his team to figure it out,” Dennis said. “The leadership at this university has been very proactive in moving forward with this. Not only are we excited about the sports we can have here, but our university and the students will get a chance to use it, as well as the city.

“Bama Jam just had some great bands, so maybe we can have a concert or two there.”

Dennis said he expects this project to take bigger steps by the end of the month. Regardless, the school has a new fan in Wallace, a 1981 graduate of Auburn University with degrees in Environmental Design and Architecture.

“Troy is a great university with great leadership,” Wallace said. “I’ve come to find that out over the last several months. I’m a real huge Troy fan.”

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A list of projects by Goodwyn Mills & Cawood, Inc., can be found at http://www.gmcnetwork.com/portfolio.cfm.
A list of projects by Populous can be found at http://portfolio.populous.com/projects/index.html.