CANTON — St. Lawrence University announced it has tapped HOK, a global design, architecture, and engineering firm, to present a plan for refurbishing and improving the school’s Appleton Arena. HOK — which has 23 offices across the globe, including Ottawa, Toronto, and New York City — has designed stadiums for professional and collegiate teams, St. […]
CANTON — St. Lawrence University announced it has tapped HOK, a global design, architecture, and engineering firm, to present a plan for refurbishing and improving the school’s Appleton Arena.
HOK — which has 23 offices across the globe, including Ottawa, Toronto, and New York City — has designed stadiums for professional and collegiate teams, St. Lawrence said.
The firm’s design work includes the recently opened Little Caesars Arena, which is the new home of the National Hockey League’s Detroit Red Wings.
St. Lawrence University in late September announced it had received a private planning gift to begin a study for “renewing and enhancing” Appleton Arena, where the Saints’ NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey teams play their games.
Tom Dolan, who graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1974, and the Woodbury, New York–based Dolan Family Foundation, donated the funding for the study. St. Lawrence didn’t disclose the amount.
The renovation seeks to improve facilities for the university’s hockey players as well as participants in other intercollegiate and intramural sports. St. Lawrence also hopes to improve the “spectator experience” both in Appleton Arena and through the online live stream.
“To have the opportunity to work with the caliber of company like HOK puts us at the ‘top of our game,’” Bob Durocher, director of athletics and recreation at St. Lawrence University, boasted in a news release. “Their experience, wisdom, and professional attitude is second to none.”
Originally opened in 1951, Appleton Arena is regarded as one of the university’s “significant heritage” facilities, the school said.
About the study
HOK will conduct a “comprehensive” study of Appleton Arena and deliver its findings to the university’s steering, planning, and oversight committee as well as its campus-user group.
The firm has already made a visit to campus and presented preliminary concepts to the two groups.
Dan Seaman, St. Lawrence’s chief facilities officer, said the architects will work to preserve the interior’s “old barn look” while making “significant” improvements to the entranceways, press box, overhead lighting, and live-streaming capabilities.
“Preserving the heritage of Appleton was a number one priority for the campus, and HOK is very excited about working with us to preserve the old character of the arena,” Seaman said in the release. “Having a firm with so many people that have worked on professional and collegiate stadiums, they can bring a lot of ideas to the table and always seem a step ahead of the game.”
HOK plans to finish its design study by April, Seaman said. Once the school is able to secure the “necessary” funding to complete the renovations, the project would take about 18 months and would not cause any disruption to the teams’ game schedules in the arena, the university contended. The release didn’t disclose a projected budget for the project.
“When you have a company that has designed some of the top facilities at the professional, and highest collegiate levels,” Durocher said, “I am confident that we will come away with preserving the best of Appleton Arena with enhancements that will provide us with something truly special.”
HOK was founded in St. Louis, Missouri in 1955.
