Jazz seeking $23M from city for arena upgrades
The Utah Jazz shed some more light on their plans to renovate Vivint SmartHome Arena Friday, and will be seeking $22.7 million in public money to do so.
The team announced last month they would undertake significant renovations to the 25-year-old facility, which is now the sixth-oldest arena in the NBA. The full price tag for the retrofit is set at $125 million, with renovations to be completed for the 2017-18 season, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. The public contribution is expected to be approved next Tuesday at a meeting of the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency.
A new building was previously considered by the Jazz owners, the Larry H. Miller Group. Salt Lake City is one of the NBA's smallest TV markets and has the lowest population of any metropolitan statistical region in the league.
Vivint SmartHome Arena was previously known as EnergySolutions Arena and the Delta Center. It hosted back-to-back NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998, as well as the 1993 All-Star Game.