The MSU Board of Trustees voted to approve the construction of a new Olympic sports arena that will host wrestling, volleyball and gymnastics events.
The arena approved, Friday, has a budget of $150 million. It’s part of a larger project that will also include a hotel, at least three new restaurants, housing, parking facilities, mixed-use buildings and a future academic or health care development zone.
The plan was approved, 6-1, with Trustee Dennis Denno voting against it. Trustee Sandy Pierce abstained from the vote.
President Kevin Guskiewicz said the arena, along with the rest of the developments that will be part of the Spartan Gateway District, will make the district a magnet that attracts people to the area.
“There’s really a significant need for a new arena that’ll not just provide opportunities for some of our Olympic sports, but also to bring concerts, it’ll allow us to hold career fairs there, convocations and commencement ceremonies,” Guskiewicz said.
He told reporters after the Board of Trustees meeting Friday that the future of Jenison Fieldhouse is unclear, calling it a “tired building.”
But he said it will be used in some capacity, pointing to indoor track events, wrestling practice and “other opportunities.”
“We’ll see what the future holds for it,” Guskiewicz said. “And remember, this new arena won’t be finished for another three years. So who knows what condition Jenison might be in three, four, five years from now?”
Guskiewicz said the district will likely become one of the main entrances to the MSU campus.
It is being developed by Gillespie Group and Goldenrod Companies. The first phases are expected to be operational by late 2027.
The Board also voted to increase the cost of room and board for the upcoming school year by 2.9% -- a smaller increase than the nearly 7% hike adopted last year.
Trustees Denno, Mike Balow and Rema Vassar broke with the rest of the board to vote against the rate hike, which passed 5-3.
Balow said that MSU needs to invest in upgrading the dorms, but said he wasn’t assured that the rate increase would lead to that happening.
“If I’ve heard from one person, I’ve heard from 1,000, that many of the MSU dorms need updating,” Balow said. “That is a competitive advantage for us. It’s something that we need to do, and I’d like to understand this rate increase in the bigger context of how that’s going to work over the next five to 10 years.”
The agenda item said the rate increases are needed to “address rising wage costs, especially increases in minimum wage and significant increases in employee health care costs, alongside ongoing investments within RHS infrastructure.”
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.