At the completion of the 2010-11 men’s and women’s basketball seasons, the 50-plus-year-old Alexander Memorial Coliseum will be completely replaced with one significant and highly visible exception: Those characteristic steel girders that have defined the “Thriller Dome” for so many years will remain and be prominently featured.

A new building on the northeast corner of the Georgia Tech campus, anticipated to cost about $45 million, will be built around the girders.

The Hank McCamish Pavilion is estimated to be completed in time for the 2012-13 basketball season.

“There’s been a convergence of factors that have helped us to decide to take on a project of this magnitude. First and foremost, the family of one of Tech’s great alumni, Hank McCamish, IM 50, was looking for an opportunity to honor Hank,” said Dan Radakovich, director of Athletics.

Athletics senior development officer Jim Hall, working with Steve Merlin and Gordon Beckham of the McCamish family, developed a number of ideas for philanthropic support. The idea of replacing Tech’s main basketball facility was “out of the box,” Radakovich said, but one that the family embraced to the tune of a $15 million gift to Georgia Tech Athletics.

The lead gift from the McCamish family was transformational, but there were other critical factors that contributed to the decision to replace the facility, Radakovich said.

First among these was a recent study indicating that repair and maintenance of the existing coliseum would cost more than $20 million over the next 10 years, with more than $10 million of that required for safety and required maintenance in the next five years.

Radakovich said required maintenance projects would include replacement of the HVAC plant and systems, repair and replacement of the roof and reconfiguration of the interior in response to life-safety issues.

“It is exceedingly difficult if not impossible to successfully raise funds for repair and maintenance issues,” Radakovich noted.

He said the current environment for total building replacement is favorable in a couple of other significant ways. The recession has caused enormous retraction in the building trades, and there are high-quality construction firms and suppliers looking for projects, making construction costs very competitive.

If there is indeed a time to “get more for your money,” it’s today, Radakovich said.

Long-term interest rates also are at near-historical lows. And refinancing some higher interest-bearing debt into a new bond issue to include the facility means the project can be completed without increasing the Athletic Association’s annual debt service.

Key to the plan is to leverage the McCamish gift and other capital gifts that the Athletic Association has obtained into a separate facilities investment portfolio managed by the Georgia Tech Foundation to help fund the debt service, Radakovich said.

“Recognizing that we have to commit significant funds to the existing facility anyway, coupled with these factors, led us to the conclusion that this is the right time to do this and has set the stage for this project to go forward,” he said.

“While putting bandages on the old facility was always an option, when these factors all aligned, it was clearly a good decision for Tech to move forward with major changes,” Radakovich said. “Men’s and women’s basketball are the most visible users of the new facility, but commencements, speakers and other events will also take place in the new building.

“It’s not being built as a concert venue though,” Radakovich said. “The costs and infrastructure required to compete in that arena in the metro Atlanta market are incompatible with Georgia Tech’s plans, desires or financial palate.”

The winning design concept was presented by Populous and Whiting-Turner. The corner of 10th and Fowler streets is one of Tech’s signature gateways, and the new building is designed to serve as a striking and an impressive northeast entry to campus.

The planned seating capacity will remain about 9,000 on two levels. An open concourse will surround the seating area. While it won’t extend all the way around, it will be easier to navigate the building than with the current walled division of concourse and stadia. The seating bowl will feature handrails in every aisle and be completely accessible to the disabled.

There will be both lower and upper decks, and all seats will have chair backs. The sight-line distance from each seat to center court will improve significantly. A large video scoreboard will hover over center court as well.

“The excitement on the floor will be clearly felt on the concourse,” Radakovich said.

No individual suites will be included in the design, although there will be a large 5,000-square-foot club available to donors and special guests on the east side of the lower deck.

The configuration virtually guarantees a home-court advantage reminiscent of the old Thriller Dome days, Radakovich said, and the fan experience will be enhanced substantially as a result.

It was important to Radakovich to reach out to remaining members of the William Alexander family when discussion of the new building began.

“Coach Alexander was one of Tech’s earliest leaders and coached one of our national champions in football. Recognizing this, a courtyard on the outside of the new arena will be built called the Alexander Memorial Courtyard. Students will enter through this courtyard at their gate. The courtyard will recognize coach William Alexander as one of our early athletic leaders as well as the many historical events that took place in the old Alexander Memorial Coliseum — the hundreds of basketball games, the commencements, the ’96 Olympic boxing competition and others,” Radakovich said.

The Board of Regents approved the project at its October meeting. Bonds will be issued in December, with the proceeds residing in a Georgia Tech Foundation fund for investment and distribution as construction proceeds.

Construction will begin after the 2010-11 season and continue until October 2012. The 2011-12 men’s and women’s basketball seasons will be played off site. A final determination of location will come in the spring.

Radakovich and his team are trying to optimize the home schedule. Eight ACC games must be played for each sport as well as other obligations like the ACC-Big 10 Challenge. Twenty-four men’s and women’s games likely will be played at other venues.

This season, basketball ticket holders will see a variety of materials on display at the coliseum that will showcase the new facility. Seating conversion plans will be developed in 2011 and finalized in early 2012, Radakovich said. “Past season ticket purchases as well as Alexander-Tharpe Fund points will play a key role in those conversion plans.

“The Athletic Association is grateful for past support and knows that the new building will enhance the tradition of Tech basketball for the next 50 years,” Radakovich said.