James Madison Univ. and Union Bank & Trust announced a naming-rights agreement for the school's planned new basketball facility, making it the Union Bank & Trust Center. The partnership represents the largest corporate naming agreement in school history. Learfield's JMU Sports Properties worked on the deal. As part of the agreement, Union Bank & Trust will retain naming rights for the facility for 10 years for $2.25M. Union Bank & Trust has been a regular partner with JMU athletics for over 20 years. Groundbreaking for the arena is slated for spring of '18 with an anticipated opening no later than the start of the '20-21 JMU basketball season. JMU is currently finalizing architectural design for the arena with Virginia-based Moseley Architects working alongside Populous. S.B. Ballard will serve as the general construction manager (JMU). In Richmond, John O'Connor noted plans for the arena were "announced" in '15, and the venue will be "located on the East Campus, with the cost estimated" at $88M. The arena will "seat 8,500 for basketball and nearly 10,000 for events that involve floor seating." The Union Bank & Trust Center will have a "club area, courtside seating with a private hospitality area, state-of-the-art lighting and audio/video technology, a center-hung scoreboard and upper concourse ribbon boards, a student club area, a multipurpose event space, a team store and a Raising Cane’s restaurant." A 1,500-space parking deck will be "constructed next to the building" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 10/14).
