Quick Take
For the first time, the Santa Cruz Warriors organization released early renderings of the long-discussed new basketball arena proposed for in the city’s south of Laurel Street neighborhood downtown.
A Lookout series on the business and politics of development in downtown Santa Cruz >>>> READ MORE
After years of talk about a new home for the Santa Cruz Warriors G League basketball team, residents on Tuesday got the first official look at what that arena might look like.
During a meeting at which the Santa Cruz City Council would later vote on a plan to expand downtown and create an entertainment district anchored by the new multipurpose sports and entertainment venue, Santa Cruz Warriors President Chris Murphy unveiled what he emphasized as “conceptual drawings” of the Warriors’ more modern digs.
“I hope you all in the community are as excited as I am when we see these drawings,” Murphy said during his presentation to the city council. “It’s been an amazing 13-year relationship with Santa Cruz. We look forward to that going on for decades to come. We want to be in Santa Cruz.”
The renderings show a boxy, roughly three-story structure fronted by floor-to-ceiling windows, with a second-floor outdoor terrace. In one of the drawings, the modern structure sits facing the planned Spruce Street Plaza and is surrounded by tall buildings.
Murphy said the new arena’s capacity would grow only “marginally,” pointing to an increased seating capacity from 2,505 at existing Kaiser Permanente Arena to 3,000 at the new one.
However, the city expects the structure to be much larger than KP Arena, which is just under 30,000 square feet. According to an environmental analysis of the new downtown development, the city is planning for the “construction of a new approximately 180,000-square-foot permanent sports and entertainment arena for the Santa Cruz Warriors basketball team.”
Longtime local advocate and resident Gillian Greensite pointed out that discrepancy, and pressed the city council to reconsider its vision for a new downtown.
“I think that you should look carefully as to whether this shiny new, beautiful entertainment, etc, district will spell the death of our current downtown,” Greensite said.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.