$500,000 curtain will improve Crisler Center atmosphere, Michigan AD Dave Brandon says
Add one more renovation to the Crisler Center experience.
In an MGoBlue.com blog post Monday, Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon wrote that the department plans to invest $500,000 in a high-rising curtain that will hopefully provide a more "intimate" atmosphere for smaller women's basketball -- and gymnastics -- crowds in the future.
"This curtain will circle the upper bowl and will help create a louder and more intimate setting and an overall improved atmosphere for crowds of 5,000 or less," Brandon wrote. "And we are doing this specifically to help our women's basketball and women's gymnastics teams and their fans."
Michigan will hang a curtain around the upper bowl of the Crisler Center to "help create a louder and more intimate setting and an overall improved atmosphere for crowds of 5,000 or less," according to athletic director Dave Brandon.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
The Michigan women's basketball team averaged 1,773 fans over 13 home games last season. Currently, the Crisler Center has a capacity of 12,721.
Michigan is in the process of completing the second phase of renovations to the Crisler Center, which includes a renovated lobby and the widening of concourses.
Also in his blog, centered around the 40th anniversary of Title IX, Brandon writes about Michigan's overall commitment to women's sports in general.
From softball to women's basketball and new coach Kim Barnes Arico, who was hired last month to replace Kevin Borseth.
Brandon wrote that Michigan's first women's athletic budget in 1974-75 was $100,000. Currently, the school's budget for women's athletics sits at $16,213,000 for 14 varsity sports.
"We are setting a new standard for support and winning championships -- a standard for both our men and women sports programs," Brandon wrote. "We are striving to be the 'leaders and best' in everything we do."
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Nick Baumgardner covers Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2514, by email at nickbaumgardner@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.
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