UCLA: Pauley Pavilion Renovation Begins as Baseball Bruins Sweep USC
Last week as a fairly big one for UCLA.
After much wrangling and an intense fundraising effort, the Bruin Athletic Department officially began the renovation of Pauley Pavilion as a groundbreaking ceremony commenced on the north side of that iconic arena.
The plan is for the outside of Pauley to be worked on first as a new outside concourse will be added. That will allow the basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics teams to continue holding games, matches, and meets in that building for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year.
For 2011-2012, however, Pauley will be unavailable as the interior structure will be getting a complete makeover. The seating capacity will increase from 12,800 to 14,000 as more bathrooms will be added, the locker rooms will be upgraded and the steps will be narrower so it will be easier for fans to navigate them, among other things.
In short, the house that John Wooden built will be a state of the art arena that will be worthy of UCLA’s longtime tradition of excellence on the field, court, and floor.
The volleyball and gymnastics teams will spend their 2011-2012 seasons in the smaller John Wooden Center next door to Pauley, while the basketball team is planning to play their home games at the Great Western Forum, the former home of the Lakers – not a bad place to spend a year while your house is being rebuilt.
Meanwhile on the baseball diamond, the Bruins continued their winning ways, remaining in contention for a Pac-10 championship as well as being selected to host an upcoming NCAA regional, not to mention being ranked in the top 15.
Last week they swept USC at Jackie Robinson Stadium in an epic three-game set, which included an exciting 2-1 victory on May 16 when Cody Keefer slammed a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth with UCLA down to their last out.
The Bruins then beat UC Santa Barbara 6-2 this past Tuesday night. With only seven games remaining in the regular season, it looks good for coach John Savage’s bunch, particularly if the pitching holds up.
All things considered, it has been good times in Westwood as of late.
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