Chris Banyas
Staff Writer
Since opening in 1970 as the first domed stadium to be built on a college campus, Holt Arena has become a landmark for the region and one of the most prominent features of Idaho State University.
Originally named the MiniDome after a facility in Texas, it is a canvas upon which different strokes may be applied in order to bring a vast array of events to life.
The painters are those that must load in and load out the wide variety of flooring, equipment, and other requirements for these events, as well as those that plan the transitions.
“It helps get people on our campus and, hopefully, in turn, we get some of those people to go to school here,” said George Casper, director of events.
Holt Arena switches between several standard events for the university. These include basketball, football, and track and field. Rodeos and monster truck events are also often brought in.
Years ago many high profile bands played Holt Arena but due to weight limitations and the domination of the industry by large concert promoters, it has not been used for this purpose in many years.
“The amount of weight that those video boards and lights and stuff that they have, as far as they need to hang, has been one of the huge reasons why we can’t do those bigger shows like that,” said Casper.
Recently, Holt Arena was changed over from track to basketball mode at a cost of roughly $5,600. This involved removing all the track and the equipment, as well as cleaning the facility.
Due to ISU hosting the Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship from Feb. 27 to March 1 , the track had to be reinstalled recently.
“That process, in order to take the bleachers out and to take the flooring out, is about an eight-hour process with about a 12-man crew,” said Casper. “It’s pretty labor intensive.”
After the arena has been returned to a blank canvas, the old turf called the magic carpet system is rolled out, and the wooden track is placed on top of it piece by piece.
ISU was the first location to receive the magic carpet system roughly 30 years ago.
It is so named due to the air that must be blown upward into the bottom of the turf as it is unrolled to keep it moving. Without the air, the turf would not be able to be unrolled due to its immense weight.
“The track is the most difficult thing we do. As you can imagine, you start at point A and work around,” said Casper. “If you’re working around and you don’t get those pieces exactly straight, by the time you get to the other end, you can be off, be short or long.”
Installing the track atop the old football flooring is roughly a two-and-a-half day project for 16 people working eight hours per day. Removing the track is much easier, taking a mere eight to 19 hours.
Within the last three years, the facility has stopped using the magic carpet system for football.
The new turf system is made of rolls measuring 15 feet long that must be laid out and velcroed together every five yards, which presents a similar problem to that of the track installation.
“You have to get that field just perfect. We always put the 50-yard-line piece down first because you have to square it on four sides,” said Casper. “If you’re off like an eighth of an inch, by the time you get to the goalpost you’re off like three or four, five, six, seven inches.”
While the new turf system is not the most difficult install handled by the staff, it is the most time intensive. The process requires a team of 16 to 18 workers to spend four days working eight-hour shifts to install.
