Efforts to finance a multi-million dollar renovation of Assembly Hall could modernize the 40-year-old arena, but might mean the venue would offer more sporting events and fewer concerts.

A University committee is studying the possibility of transferring control of the hall to the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) from the Office of Student Affairs to generate more fundraising dollars for the project.

Chancellor Nancy Cantor, who organized the committee in mid-June, said in a letter to the committee that transferring control of Assembly Hall would be a long-term benefit to the University.

Associate Chancellor Larry Mann said the idea of such a move has been informally discussed for the past two to three years by administrators looking to make the University more efficient.

With Assembly Hall under DIA control, student trustee and committee member Nate Allen said it would be easier to find private donors to pay for a proposed renovation rather than pass the cost on to the student body.

"The renovation of the Assembly Hall would require extensive fundraising, which student affairs probably could not provide," Allen said.

No renovation plans have been approved yet. Last year, a study sponsored by the DIA and Assembly Hall unveiled a plan that included additional concession stands and rest rooms, as well as escalators, improvements to the electrical and plumbing systems, and wider, padded seats.

Mann said any major renovation of Assembly Hall would cost at least $75 million.

With that much money the University might be able to build a brand new facility, which Allen said is still a viable option as well.

In 1998, the University of Wisconsin-Madison debuted a brand new basketball and hockey arena, the Kohl Center, which cost only $76.4 million to construct, according to the Wisconsin Badgers Web site.

Even though transferring control could make funding renovations easier, Allen also expressed some worries about the priorities of a DIA-run Assembly Hall.

"One of the concerns is that the DIA doesn't have as much insight as far as plays, concerts, (and) non-athletic events," he said.

ISG President Marcia Fuentes agreed, saying she was concerned that if the DIA took control "the Assembly Hall will start to lean over to athletics instead of student interests at large."

This was not to say that all non-athletic events would stop if the DIA assumed control, Fuentes said, especially because profits from those events make up about half of Assembly Hall's budget. Revenue from athletic events, by comparison, make up only about 4 percent of the budget and are used to cover the cost of those events, she said.

In her letter to the committee, Cantor stated that "student-endorsed entertainment and other student programs will continue to have high scheduling priority at the Assembly Hall."

Each student currently pays $53 a semester in fees to support Assembly Hall.

The committee is scheduled to release its report to Vice President for Student Affairs Pat Askew and Athletic Director Ron Guenther at the end of the month. Cantor will then discuss the issue further with Askew, Guenther and the committee before making a final decision, the letter stated.

Fuentes and Allen say they will try to form two new committees — one to examine the proposed transfer to the DIA, the other to discuss plans to renovate or demolish Assembly Hall — to increase student involvement with the issue.

"I would like to see a more thorough analysis of a new stadium with student input," Allen said.