
Raquel Cazares/THE RIDER
Construction continues on a $16 million face-lift to the UTRGV Fieldhouse on the Edinburg campus, which is nearing its completion by the summer.
The project is one of 13 capital projects undertaken by the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, representing a $160 million commitment to facility upgrades across all of its programs.
John Evans, senior associate athletic director for Operations, has run point on the construction and renovations to the Fieldhouse.
In an interview with The Rider, Evans confirmed there are three parts to the project, which is currently in what he calls phase two.
Phase two consists of the construction of a 15,000-square-foot atrium, which will contain ticketing offices, concession stands, a team store, premium seats on the baseline and a dedicated space for the Athletics Hall of Fame.

Raquel Cazares/THE RIDER
“It’s a big piece to modernize the facility,” Evans said. “In the past, you’d walk outside directly into the gym. It kind of had a high school feel to it.”

Raquel Cazares/THE RIDER
Also under construction as part of phase two is a memorial plaza in front of the new atrium, which will be dedicated to the men’s basketball late coach Lew Hill. In all, phase two is set to cost $9 million, according to Evans.
He told The Rider the atrium will be a huge boost on game day in terms of security, steering concession traffic away from the tunnel to the locker room. It will also add an additional entrance for fans.
“We’d have to block off fans from getting concessions at halftime, pregame and postgame just, so there was no interactions with the fans and the teams,” Evans said. “Now, 90% of that traffic will go to the atrium in the opposite direction, and that’s gonna help us out from a game operations standpoint.”
Phase one, which is already complete, cost approximately $2 million to build, according to Evans. It includes interior renovations to the Fieldhouse, installing a new court and new seats with courtside seating.
Fans will also notice brand new video boards were installed at both ends of the court as a part of the first phase of construction.
Additionally, a practice gym was completed, which replaced an old indoor pool. The space now contains three volleyball nets, six basketball hoops, shooting machines and practice cameras for coaches and athletes to observe their practices.

Raquel Cazares/THE RIDER
“[The practice gym] has been a big help for us [when] we have a double-header going,” Evans said. “[Before], we would have had issues getting four teams to practice at the same time if we didn’t have this practice gym.”
There are also plans to create an entrance exclusive to student-athletes, allowing them to access the facility at any time to practice or work out.
Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque confirmed this gym and all the equipment contained within cost the department $5 million.
Evans said the department coordinated with the construction crews to ensure that practices and games were not impacted by the construction.
All construction to the Fieldhouse is set to finish in June, well ahead of the start of the 2025 UTRGV Volleyball season. They will be the first program to play in the renovated venue.