February 2, 2018

Dear UT Community,

Last spring, we announced that The University of Texas would build a new arena for our student-athletes, students, alumni and the community. This arena will replace the Frank Erwin Center and Denton A. Cooley Pavilion as the home of UT’s women’s and men’s basketball programs. It will also serve as a venue for concerts and other events.

This week, we will begin soliciting proposals from potential developers to build and operate this new arena and basketball training facility, with minimal financial investment from the university.

Our goal is to work with an experienced partner to construct a world-class venue that is centrally located on campus. We want every student on campus to be able to get to games easily. We want alumni to visit an arena that is brimming with Longhorn tradition and history. We want coaches Karen Aston and Shaka Smart and their student-athletes to have the very best facilities. And we want fans to have unforgettable experiences — time and time again.

We have decided on two potential locations for the new arena — either the area occupied by a parking lot south of Mike A. Myers Stadium, or the area occupied by the Recreational Sports Center and Steve Hicks School of Social Work south of Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium. The university will develop a strategic solution for any programs that are affected by a relocation.

The long-term plan for the campus calls for the Erwin Center site to be available for future expansion of the Dell Medical School and the university’s growing health care mission.

This is an exciting time for The University of Texas and Texas Athletics. We are at the beginning of a new era, marked by the arrival of Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte, the completion of the Texas Tennis Center and now the initial stage of building a vibrant arena in the heart of the campus.

Sincerely,

Gregory L. Fenves Chris Del Conte

President Vice President and Athletics Director