Marriott Center finalizes seating upgrades

BYU celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Marriott Center this past year, with the beloved building serving as home to weekly devotionals, a vast array of sporting events and almost anything in between.

Recently, the arena has been undergoing various renovations, finishing up just in time for the start of basketball season.

This multiphase project began about seven years ago, starting with the benches on the lower level being replaced with chairs and ending in October with the upper bowl’s yellow seats being replaced.

After these renovations, the new capacity of the Marriott center is 17,978. The arena lost 294 chair seats and 552 bench seats.

However, Justin Durfey, the Director of Special Events at the Marriott center, does not foresee the lower capacity as being a problem.

“The reduction in the number of seats is not a significant concern,” Durfey said. “Those chairs were 50 years old and we were having to repair chairs on a regular basis. The demand came down to the fact that this is a product that is worn out and needs to be replaced.”

Durfey has worked at the Marriott Center for 14 years and has been Director of Special Events for seven years. However, even after attending devotionals in the Marriott Center as a student, Durfey knew this building was special.

“As far as college arenas go, this is a great building and I don’t think you would find many 50 year old buildings in as good as shape as this one”, Durfey said. “We certainly hope that fans and people coming to all events enjoy the blue chairs and the new look and feel of the arena.”