—
With an estimated total project value exceeding $95 million, the largest privately funded project in the history of the California State University system is completed at Fresno State. It is anticipated that over one million spectators a year will visit the new Save Mart Center, which is the home court for the Fresno State Bulldogs basketball team, as well as the site of rodeos, concerts, family shows and cultural events. The Costa Mesa, Calif. office of Clark Construction Group, LLC. served as general contractor on this project.
Seating capacity for the facility ranges from 15,000 to 18,000. Designed by Sink Combs Dethlefs of Denver, the 450,000-square-foot center contains 32 private suites, 1,000 club seats, a club level concourse, team locker rooms and athletic training facilities. The facade features punch windows and stucco in buff, eggshell and redwood colors. The clear height in the arena bowl is over 75 feet high, tall enough to encompass a six-story building. Over 4.25 million pounds of structural steel was used throughout the facility. In addition, the facility includes state-of-the-art video, sound and telecom systems.
“This has always been a dream of our community, to have an on-campus arena,” said Fresno State Project Coordinator Deborah Adishian-Astone. “We’ve been in a sold-out capacity for our men’s basketball games for several years now. The missing facility for us on campus was a multipurpose arena for our men’s and women’s basketball teams.”
The sports arena also is a catalyst for Central California’s economic development. With a current population base of three million within Central California’s nine-county region, the Save Mart Center offers a variety of events to serve a growing community.
The project team included John A. Martin Associates of Los Angeles, structural engineer and ME Engineers of Wheat Ridge, Colo., mechanical and electrical engineer.
Financing for the project was provided through revenue from corporate sponsorships, private gifts, leasing of luxury suites, sale of club seats and personal seat licenses as well as revenue from advertising and signage agreements.
###
