More than two years after proposing a new basketball arena, Alabama appears to be pivoting.

At least for now.

Instead of a whole new facility, the school is seeking to refresh its current building. A $58.6 million renovation and expansion at Coleman Coliseum was presented Thursday afternoon to the UA System Board of Trustees physical properties committee.

Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne detailed the plan that’ll be funded by bonds and $20 million in donations made to the Crimson Standard fundraising drive to improve facilities.

A few details revealed in the meeting:

• A 48,800-square-foot expansion will be built onto the southeast corner of the 56-year-old Coleman Coliseum.
• Another 19,000 square feet of existing space will be renovated.
• Groundbreaking is expected to occur this fall with completion set for the beginning of the 2026-27 season.
• There was no mention of any changes or improvements to the seating bowl. This project is aimed at fixing the spaces used by both the men’s and women’s basketball programs.
• The facility will include new sports medicine space, team meeting rooms, locker rooms, lounges and coaching/staff offices. Under the current configuration, coaches offices are located on the front side of Coleman Coliseum, separate from the current practice gym/locker rooms.

This would move the women’s basketball program’s practice space back to Coleman Coliseum after spending more than a decade training at nearby Foster Auditorium.

The move Thursday comes after two years of inaction on the proposed new arena. It was presented to the same trustees committee on Feb. 3, 2022 with an estimated price tag of $183 million.

Since making the initial arena proposal two years ago, Byrne’s cited massive construction cost increases as a hurdle to moving forward on the project. Shifting financial realities within the collegiate sports model has also played a factor.

Where the arms race within major programs once focused on facilities like new arenas, donor money is now directed more toward NIL collectives to compensate athletes.

There was no mention of that proposed arena in Thursday’s presentation or in questions from committee members to Byrne but a UA athletics spokesperson said it would not be correct to assume the project is dead.

The last major renovation of the basketball practice facility was in 2011, when the gym, previously home to the Alabama volleyball program, was converted to a dedicated space for men’s basketball. When presented to the trustees in April 2010, the estimated cost of that project was $4.5 million.

“Each team will have a dedicated practice gym and weight room space,” Byrne said of the update proposed Thursday, “which is where the program spends the majority of their time.

“Coach (Nate) Oats and Coach (Kristy) Curry are extremely supportive of this plan as a positive and valuable next step for the respective teams and they’ve both expressed this is the highest priority at this time and the facility will meet an immediate need as we continued to work toward long-term priorities for our basketball programs.”

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.