Renovate
Don't Relocate
Join us in asking UNC Administration to keep Tar Heel Basketball on South Campus.
We do not support the move of the Smith Center and our historic Carolina men’s basketball program off campus. We believe the best and only option for the future of Tar Heel men’s basketball is to remain on campus at a renovated and improved Dean E. Smith Center – where we have won 500 games and celebrated 40 years of memories.
Our homecourt advantage is embedded in the south campus Smith Center and Roy Williams Court. We cannot lose it.
One of Coach Smith’s desires, communicated to his family and to Coach Williams, was to never let Carolina Basketball be moved off south campus. We wish to honor Dean Smith’s request that our cherished basketball venue “always remain on [south] campus” – a view shared by Coach Roy Williams and most Tar Heel basketball alumni. Keeping basketball at the heart of campus, on south campus, is the right decision for our students, our alumni, our school and the legacy of the Carolina men’s basketball program and all who love it.
Renovation is the Cost-Effective Choice
UNC Administration has stated that a new arena will cost at least $800 MM in today’s dollars and generate $30 MM in revenue for athletics.
Many schools (Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan State, SMU, Duke) have successfully renovated aging arenas, and Carolina should follow their examples. The top basketball programs in the country all have on-campus facilities and most have been renovated at budgets far less than the proposed Carolina North project of over a billion dollars.
The estimated cost to renovate the Smith Center is estimated at less than $400M and can generate $20 – $30MM in revenue for athletics from:
- Suites
- Club Seats
- PSL’s
- Ticket Cost
- VIP Event Areas
- Parking
- Naming Rights
- F&B
- Other events (concerts, conferences, commencements, etc.)
Relocating the basketball arena will be a mistake. We have seen this movie before and it did not end well.
In 1999, NC State moved from Reynolds Coliseum (on-campus) to the new PNC arena (off-campus). Many leaders at NC State say that move harmed the program. In fact, in recent years, when NC State men’s home basketball played at the PNC Arena they averaged around 11,800 fans per home game. The PNC Arena capacity is 19,500. This 61% filled rate is one of the worst percentages in the ACC. Meanwhile during the 2024-25 season, The Dean E. Smith Center on south campus drew 19,000 attendees per game.
Sign the Petition
By signing this petition, we urge the administration to Renovate Don’t Relocate the historic Dean E. Smith Center and our cherished legacy.
Dean E. Smith Center Petition
In this video clip Rusty Carter of the Committee for a South Campus Arena invites Chancellor Lee Roberts to unite with us on a new concept for renovating the Smith Center and innovating on South Campus. You can download the full concept here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17nCD1jaNBV81hC_VvuUMjVXTM7K7KDJV/view?usp=drive_link
LISTEN TO THE FULL WCHL INTERVIEW here:: https://chapelboro.com/the-aaron-keck-show/on-air-today/proposing-a-village-at-south-campus-including-the-dean-dome #UNC #DeanDome