How many millions it cost to fix Stegeman Coliseum's ceiling in time for basketball season

Fixing the ceiling of Stegeman Coliseum in time for the Georgia basketball season didn’t come cheap.

The school shut down the venue in 2023 from March to October and cancelled scheduled events there to ensure the safety of those inside the now 60-year old arena after pieces of the ceiling fell in recent years.

The Athens Banner-Herald received through an open records request from Georgia athletics how much it cost to repair the coliseum ceiling so it could be used this school year for men’s and women’s basketball games, volleyball matches, gymnastics meets and university events.

Georgia produced seven invoices signed off by the University of Georgia’s Facilities Management and UGA athletics for work performed through Aug. 21 totaling $6,151,851.56, but the final figures will be substantially higher.

Georgia athletics said Tuesday that payments thus far for the project have been made totaling $8,907,146.95 to Structural Resources Inc., an Athens firm. That doesn’t include at least $10,000 to Helmuth Obata Kas of Dallas for consulting services and $4,000 to Hoist Sales & Service of Sarasota, Fla., for an annual inspection of hoisting equipment.

Georgia a year ago only said the cost to fix Stegeman would be in the “seven figures.”

Georgia is planning for future renovations for Stegeman instead of building a new arena that athletic director Josh Brooks has said would cost more than $200 million. The improvements being eyed include a video board up to 7,000 feet and premium seating.

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Structural Resources Inc described the project on invoices as “Ceiling Rehabilitation and Soft Restraint System.” Among the costs described were setting up and renting scaffolding and an aerial lift, inspecting the ceiling, cutting and repairing, installing a soft protective barrier and the labor for two on-call electricians.

Athletic and university officials said a year ago that construction crews would saw cut relief joints at the precast corners of the roof and install a protective mesh to keep future chipping from reaching the coliseum floor. The mesh was made of high density polyethylene.

A small piece from the ceiling fell on March 2, 2023, prompting the closure of Stegeman. That was the largest of three pieces to fall since spring 2018. Engineering reports called the issue “concrete spalling” or chipping. The roof was last replaced in 2008, but there was no indication of structural deficiencies in the roof structure that may lead to major failures or collapse, according to an engineering peer review report.

A report from Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates said that thermal movement — the expanding and contraction of building materials — and “misalignment and tight precast joints from the original construction of the facility,” were the primary factors that led to the incidents of chipping.

There were no known issues that came after the repairs as Stegeman hosted 20 men’s basketball games, 15 women’s basketball games, 6 gymnastics meets and eight volleyball matches.

The university held its fall commencement in Stegeman on Dec. 15.

The Terry College of Business is scheduled to hold its graduate ceremony in Stegeman on May 9 with undergraduate ceremonies May 10.