A name change may be coming for a local sports arena
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POCATELLO — A new name is being proposed for the Holt Arena at Idaho State University and it’s up to the State Board of Education to approve it.
On Tuesday, the board will decide through a simple majority vote whether to change the name to the Idaho Central Credit Union Arena.
This comes in the wake of a $20 million renovation project, which ICCU helped fund. It’s already provided $8.5 million towards the project, and if it becomes the arena’s namesake, would provide another $6 million to the venue over the next 12 years.
ISU Athletic Director Pauline Thiros says it looks the best it’s looked since it first opened.
“It’s the right time for our program because I think we have our ducks in a row and we know what we need to do moving forward to keep growing and we needed the resources to do it,” Thiros says.
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ICCU’s donation would allow the university to eliminate one of the “money” games they play every season.
A money game is when a school with a smaller athletics program goes up against a larger and better funded program and receives payment in return. ISU currently plays two of these games per year, and the donation would allow the program to cut one of these games.
Thiros says these games have hindered their program for many years, causing season ending injuries for players. The team lost quarterbacks to injuries on multiple occasions.
If they received the donation, Thiros says they’d be able to put some of the money towards many of the coaches salaries, which are funded annually through fundraisers.
“It’s just gonna allow us to have this sustainable source of revenue that we can invest back in our program to plan for and to give our kids all of the resources they need to compete,” Thiros said. “They really deserve it.”
While many people are excited about a possible name change, others are concerned about how the arena’s current namesake, former ISU athletic director Milton W. “Dubby” Holt, who passed away in 2007 at age 92, would be remembered going forward.
Holt was an athlete, coach and administrator on campus for 34 years. In 1967, during his first year as athletic director, he came up with the idea for “the first domed football stadium on a college campus.”
He oversaw the $2.8 million construction project, which was completed in 1970. It opened in September that year as the ASISU Minidome. It was renamed the Holt Arena in 1988.
Thiros, who knew Holt well and believes he would be supportive of the name change, says a large mural of his likeness highlighting his achievements will be placed on the wall of the arena in the concourse on the north side of the building. He will also join the Hall of Champions in the ISU Bengal Alumni Center.
“I spent a lot of afternoons at his kitchen table down in Historic University neighborhood and he was all about innovative ideas being at the forefront,” Thiros said. “He was all about investing in the kids.”
The Idaho State Board of Education will be meeting in Boise on Tuesday at 1 p.m. to hear ISU’s proposal. The meeting will be streamed live on the Idaho State Board of Education Youtube page.