UNO hockey will have a new venue to play at starting in the fall of 2015. For the past several decades, their home arena has been the Civic Auditorium, which is set to be torn down within the next few months.

The new addition to the UNO campus will be located on the south end of Aksarben Village. The facility does not have an official name yet, but it is being currently being called the “UNO Community Arena” according to the Director of Athletics at UNO Mr. Trev Alberts. Mr. Alberts says they are “actively in the market” with some of the universities’ donors, who would lease the right to have their name on the building for a number of years. This type of a naming process happens with many auditoriums and arenas throughout the country.

Although not as big as the formerly used Civic Auditorium, the new arena will be able to hold up to 7,500 people for sporting events. There will also be many new additions included in the arena that UNO hockey fans did not have before, such as new seating options that will include club seating and suites. The new options are expected to cause a huge increase in ticket sales, because of more demand and a higher price. For the general admission ticket holders, however, the price change from previous years will not be significant.

The cost of the new arena is estimated as a little over 80 million dollars. The university has raised about half of the cost through private donations. The other half is being paid by bonds that UNO has taken out. “What this means,” said Mr. Alberts, “is that a financial institution gives you the money upfront.” The revenue from the arena will go towards paying off the bonds every year,

Just like the Civic Auditorium, the arena will serve many purposes. Whenever it isn’t being used for hockey, it will be used as a venue for other sports such as women’s and men’s volleyball and basketball. The Omaha community will also benefit from it, as the arena will be used for high school graduations, concerts or any other local events. The arena’s seating capacity can range anywhere from 4,000 to 8,000.

As for the hockey team, Mr. Alberts is hoping that a home ice advantage will boost their overall performance. UNO is also hoping that with this new addition to their campus they will attract more of the nation’s top hockey players to Omaha. The new arena aims to strengthen the student community at UNO, and provide a more enjoyable experience for hockey fans.