Testimonials
Words of Praise
“The first thing that hits you when you walk into the building
is spectacular. You walk through the front doors and then you overlook
the court. . . and its vastness hits you more than anything else.
Then your mind starts imagining the possibilities of when games
will be played in there and the building filled up with 15,000
people and fans screaming.”
Dave Laiteo
University
of Virginia Men’s Basketball Head Coach, ACC Basketball
Today
“If you want to compete, its widely known
in whatever circle you travel in that facilities become a really
big part of that, and the history that University Hall has cannot
be duplicated. Some of the memories, the things that it’s
stood for and continues to stand for will be sorely missed obviously,
but in the day and age that we live in right now, facilities are
crucial to your success. And because kids are so impressionable,
they need to know—not want to know—they need to know
that you’re
at the very least very competitive with everyone else.”
Dave
Laiteo
University of Virginia Men’s Basketball Head
Coach, ACC Basketball Today
“. . . a sparkling treasure that will earn solid consideration
as one of the finest college basketball arenas in the nation.”
Albemarle
Magazine
Feb.-Mar. 2006
“. . . the seats seem to put fans almost literally on top
of the action, no matter where they are located. . . . One can
easily envision the plight of a knock-kneed opponent preparing
for a late-game foul shot with the game on the line as he or she
is nearly engulfed in a massive sea of orange and blue.”
Albemarle
Magazine
Feb.-Mar. 2006
“[Dirk Katstra, Executive Director, Virginia Athletics Foundation,]
called the comprehensive offerings [of the John Paul Jones Arena]
the ultimate ‘classroom’ of basketball,’ providing
student-athletes with virtually everything they need beyond classroom
time and social outlets, all under a single, if massive, roof.”
Albemarle
Magazine
Feb.-Mar. 2006
“’For the players it is really exciting to be going
over to the John Paul Jones Arena. They are just so fired up that
they can hardly contain themselves.’”
Debbie Ryan
Head Women’s Basketball Coach, The Daily Progress, Feb. 26,
2006
“’We think we’ve created an incredible facility,’ said
Jon Oliver, the executive associate athletic director at U.Va. ‘We’ll
have an exciting basketball facility for the fans, and the other
events will do the same for the community at large.’”
Richmond
Times-Dispatch
Jan. 29, 2006
“‘It’s the largest arena of its kind in Virginia.
. . You have to go to the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., to find
a bigger one.’”
Hugh Keogh
President, Virginia Chamber
of Commerce, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Jan.
29, 2006
“’. . .[We are] going to have the kind of facility
and the kind of team in that facility that everybody will be proud
of.”
Craig Littlepage
UVa Athletic Director, The Daily
Progress, Jan. 30, 2005
“Virginia officials say it will be the best facility of its
kind in the nation, and when one views the digitally enhanced views
of the final product, it’s hard to argue. From its columns
and pergola to its suites, video boards and practice courts, it
seems no expense has been spared.”
The Daily Progress
Jan.
30, 2005
“’Never before has the university attempted to fund
an athletics facility of this size, all privately financed.,’”
Dirk
Katstra
Virginia Athletics Foundation
Executive Director, The Daily Progress, Jan. 30, 2005
“’What we’re striving for is
building the best multi-purpose arena facility in the country,’ Littlepage
said. ‘Not one of the best. We’re
going to build the best and finest facility
anywhere in the country.’”
Craig
Littlepage
The Daily Progress, Jan.
18, 2005
“The Atlantic Coast Conference is changing. The 52-year-old
conference’s great buildings are changing, too . . . Virginia
is phasing out University Hall, which seats 8,864. Next year, the
Cavaliers will play in the 15,000-seat John Paul Jones Center. ‘Signs
of the time,’ said former North Carolina coach Dean Smith,
who did so well over his 38 seasons that the Tar Heels’ home
building is named after him: the 21,750-seat Dean Smith Center.”
The
Boston Globe
Dec. 11, 2005
“The JPJ is supposed to be a potential gem
of a gym, rivaling Pitt’s Peterson Events Center and Michigan
State’s Breslin Center.”
The Syracuse Post-Standard
Nov. 25, 2005
“The new arena is a basketball fan’s dream come true...”
WVAC
CBS 19 -Charlottesville
Nov. 17, 2005
“’The arena will have all the ‘wow’ factors
recruits and fans look for.’”
Richard Laurance
University Project Director, Mid-Atlantic Construction
Magazine, July 2004
“’The first 12,000 seats will be as good as or better
than any location in University Hall - closer to the court and
with better sightlines,’ Laurance said. ‘That kind
of tight, intimate environment is essential in a highly competitive
league like the ACC. Game days are going to be quite special here.’”
Mid-Atlantic
Construction Magazine
July 2004 |
