Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 13, 1995                   TAG: 9505150078
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium

UVA MAY GET NEW ARENA

School president John Casteen and athletic director-designate Terry Holland were well into a question-and-answer session when they innocently dropped a bomb.

University Hall, scheduled for a facelift as part of a university-wide capital campaign, may not be rebuilt after all. It may be replaced.

``We're interested in whether it's feasible to recycle this facility,'' Casteen said. ``If it's not, we're interested in what kind of complex can be put together.''

That represented at least a slight change from the strategy presented by then-athletic director in October 1993, when UVa announced plans to rebuild Unviersity Hall as part of a $22-million campaign.

``Casteen has never - ever - to my knowledge come out in favor of one plan or another,'' UVa men's basketball coach Jeff Jones said. ``But, based on all the presentations I've seen, a rebuilt arena seems to be the best choice.''

Casteen said his charge to Holland was to maintain an athletic program ranked among the top 10 in the country and to approach parity in facilities with UCLA, Michigan, Stanford and North Carolina.

``Do I have an opinion [on the arena] at this time?'' Holland asked. ``No, I do not. When I first heard the amount, my reaction was, "Gee, that sounds like a lot of money to re-do a building.'''

The price tag for improvements in the athletic facilities has escalated to $40 million, only a portion of it for the arena.

``[New] facilities of this kind have come on line for as little as $27 million,'' Casteen said. ``When you go in to re-do an older building, one of the realities is, the cost you're told at the beginning is never the cost you're told at the end.''