RE: Burt Ogden Arena
Bert Ogden Arena opening delayed until JanuaryVipers will start upcoming season at State Farm Arena
GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER Jul 26, 2017 (1)
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Bert Ogden Arena is seen under construction off of U.S. Expressway 281 July 26, 2017 in Edinburg.
Joel Martinez | jmartinez@themonitor.com
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Bert Ogden Arena under construction off of U.S. Expressway 281 July 26, 2017 in Edinburg.
Joel Martinez | jmartinez@themonitor.com
EDINBURG — Despite long-standing projections that construction of Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg would be complete in time for the start of the 2017-18 RGV Vipers season, team President Bert Garcia said the timetable for the arena opening has been pushed back to January.
As a result, the Vipers are likely headed back to State Farm Arena for at least the first few weeks of the upcoming season, while the UTRGV men’s basketball team has rescheduled its season opener with the University of Oklahoma, which was originally set to open the new arena on Nov. 18.
“We’re going based on the construction patterns and going on what’s been already ordered,” Garcia said. “January is definitely the date. We’re just being conservative here, and November was the original time of action. But right now, I think to make sure we’re putting a quality product out, I think January is the month that we’re focusing on.”
Garcia could not elaborate on the cause of the delay, citing only “upgrades and improvements to the original plan.” The bottom-line cost of the 8,500-seat arena located along Expressway 281 at Alberta Road has not changed from the previously announced figure of $68 million — $30 million of which will be funded by two tax increment reinvestment zones, with Vipers majority owner Alonzo Cantu covering the remaining $38 million.
“This (arena) is one of the biggest things that’s happened to the city and to this Valley, and I don’t think a delay until January is going to make an iota of difference in the world to anybody,” Edinburg Mayor Richard Garcia said. “We’re just happy that it’s happening. If it’s delayed a few months, it’s not a problem.”
Bert Garcia said the Vipers will likely begin the new season at State Farm Arena, the team’s home for the past 10 years. Last year’s Vipers regular season ran from Nov. 13 through April 1.
“We have a tentative agreement to hopefully start our season at State Farm Arena,” Bert Garcia said. “They’re working with us, as well, and have been great partners. And then we’ll transition to Bert Ogden Arena.”
When the new facility was announced on Nov. 1, 2013, UTRGV athletics director Chris King had already been in conversations with the Vipers and city of Edinburg about potentially using the arena for men’s basketball home games.
On June 21, 2016, UTRGV announced plans to open the 2017-18 season with a home game against 2016 Final Four participant University of Oklahoma, marking the first time since 2010 that a team from one of the NCAA’s Power 5 conferences had come to the Valley for a game. A release from UTRGV read: “The game is likely to be played at Bert Ogden Arena, pending the completion of construction and a lease agreement.”
With Bert Ogden Arena not scheduled to be completed by that date, the matchup against Oklahoma has been rescheduled for the start of the 2018-19 season, again pending a lease agreement.
“We will play the full 2017-18 season at the UTRGV Fieldhouse and look forward to speaking with the Vipers about working out a lease agreement for 2018-19,” UTRGV athletics director Chris King said in a statement to The Monitor.
When the arena was announced on Nov. 1, 2013, the Edinburg mayor told The Monitor the process was expected to take 14 to 20 months, meaning it could potentially open as early as January 2015.
On April 4, 2014, the Vipers agreed in principle with the city of Edinburg on a plan outlining each side’s obligations in funding and executing the project. At that time, The Monitor reported that the two sides hoped to break ground in summer 2014 and open the arena in early 2016.
Then, on Jan. 24, 2015, the Edinburg City Council established the two tax increment reinvestment zones to help fund the facility. Then-city manager Ramiro Garza said the arena was expected to open in “late 2016 or early 2017,” The Monitor reported.
When ground officially broke on the construction on Feb. 27, 2015, the venue was projected to open by October 2016.
“It has to be done within the year,” Richard Garcia told The Monitor at the time of the groundbreaking. “When (Cantu) sets a deadline for construction, he gets it done. I have no doubt about that.”
On April 10, The Monitor reported that the Vipers were still expecting to open the 2017-18 season in Bert Ogden Arena.
Cantu owns both the RGV Vipers and the USL soccer franchise RGV FC Toros, and the Toros experienced similar delays with the construction of their Edinburg stadium, H-E-B Park.
Originally, H-E-B Park was scheduled to be ready for RGV FC’s home opener on April 30, 2016. But, citing inclement weather and upgrades to the venue, that timetable was consistently pushed back until the season ended without the Toros ever using their home arena. Home games were played either at UTRGV or the H-E-B Park practice fields.
The Toros played their first match in H-E-B Park on March 26, the opener for the 2017 season.
gluca@themonitor.com
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